UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SCHOOL  OF  LAW 
LIBRARY 


The  commercial  LAWYER 

AND 

HIS  WORK 


BY 
WILLIAM  C.  SPRAGUE 


SECOND  EDITION 


CHICAGO 
1918 


^p74-9c 

PREFACE  TO  FIRST  EDITION. 

The  motive  that  supplied  the  inspiration  for  this 
book  was  not  wholly  mercenary;  nor  was  it  wholly 
altruistic.  It  is  not  that  I  do  not  appreciate  money  and 
what  it  may  bring,  but  through  all  my  life  and  in  all 
my  work  I  have  always  had  in  mind  the  interests  of 
the  other  fellow  as  well  as  my  own. 

I  am  hoping  that  this  book  may  prove  helpful  to 
many  a  man  young  in  the  practice  of  commercial  law, 
and  many  an  older  man  disheartened  by  existing  con- 
ditions. If  this  book  hastens  by  even  a  day  the  dawn 
of  a  better  era  in  the  commercial  law  world  I  will  feel 
that  my  labor  has  not  been  in  vain. 

I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  unless 
other  authority  is  given  for  statements  made  in  these 
pages,  I  myself  am  wholly  responsible  for  them.  I 
realize  that  in  what  I  have  written  I  have  succeeded  in 
displeasing  everybody.  However,  my  writing  has  one 
virtue,  that  of  sincerity. 

I  am  conscious  of  but  one  desire  in  connection  with 
this  work  and  that  is  that  I  may  be  of  service  in  the 
great  work  of  bringing  about  the  day  of  better  business, 
better  compensation,  and  better  service  in  the  field  of 
commercial  law  and  collections. 

WILLIAM  C.  SPRAGUE. 
Chicago,  May  1918. 


c? 


}x  DEFINITIONS. 

A  Commercial  Lawyer,  as  generally  understood,  is 
one  who  specializes  in  the  practice  of  the  commercial 
branch  of  the  law. 

To  be  a  commercial  lawyer  he  does  not  need  to  con- 
fine himself  to  this  practice — in  fact  few  do,  but  he 
must  be  specially  prepared  to  handle  commercial  mat- 
ters, large  and  small,  and  be  willing  to  do  so. 

"Collections"  are  not  commercial  law  business  per  se. 
A  layman,  who  may  not  practice  law,  may  be  lawfully 
empowered  to  make  a  collection  and,  in  so  doing,  may 
not  be  practicing  law,  though  he  may  easily  overstep 
the  bounds  of  the  layman's  privilege. 

When  a  "collection"  is  placed  with  a  lawyer,  it  may 
be  assumed  to  have  been  so  placed  because  of  his  pro- 
fessional ability  and  influence.  It  then  becomes  legal 
Work. 

The  term  "collection  lawyer"  used  generally  as  a 
term  of  abuse  or  ridicule  is  an  unjust  aspersion  on  an 
honorable  line  of  work.  The  term  gets  its  bad  odor 
from  the  fact  that  laymen  handle  "collections"  and  the 
idea  is  that  the  lawyer,  in  doing  this  sort  of  work,  is 
not  giving  professional  service,  but  lay  service.  The 
argument  is  wrong,  because  the  opposite  is  true;  the 
layman  in  the  collection  business  is  really  invading  the 
lawyer's  time  honored  field  of  work. 

A  "collection"  is  broadly  speaking  always  based  on 
a  breach  of  contract  express  or  implied.  There  is  a 
wrong  to  be  righted.  The  collector,  whether  he  be 
lawyer  or  layman,  is  employed  to  right  the  wrong.  The 
profession  of  the  law  has  immemorially  been  recognized 
as  the  agency  through  which  the  weak,  the  injured,  the 
defenseless  may  obtain  redress.  If  A  fails  to  pay  B, 
the  latter  has  suffered  an  injury  which  the  courts  are 
organized  to  redress.  The  lawyer  is  an  officer  of  the 
court,  licensed  by  the  state  to  advise  the  injured  party. 


796340 


4  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

to  act  for  him,  to  see  that  right  prevails.  The  champion- 
ing of  B's  cause  whether  in  or  out  of  court  in  righting 
the  wrong  is  essentially  the  lawyer's  work. 

Collection  work  has  in  recent  years  been  taken  over 
in  large  measure  by  laymen,  either  as  individuals,  or  as 
corporations,  and,  starting  with  the  simple,  perfectly 
proper  relation  of  A  going  out  for  B  to  induce  C  to  pay 
B  what  he  owes  him,  we  find  A  offering  to  go  out  for 
any  number  of  B's  to  collect  from  any  number  of  C's 
by  every  means  even  to  directing  and  conducting  actual 
court  proceedings,  including  the  employing  of  lawyers, 
the  giving  of  legal  advice,  the  advancing  of  costs  and 
fees,  the  assuming  of  the  chances  of  success  and  failure, 
and  the  doing  of  all  things  a  lawyer  only  may  legally 
do,  excepting  actual  appearance  in  court,  a  handicap 
circumvented  by  the  device  of  dummy  counsel  employed 
by  the  layman  agency  not  as  the  client's  counsel  but 
as  its  own,  with  whom  it  divides  fees,  or  to  whom  it 
pays  a  stated  salary,  retaining  to  itself  all  the  fees. 

A  "collection  agency"  is  usually  a  lay  individual  or 
organization  that  solicits  collections,  and  the  legal 
business  growing  out  of  them,  from  the  business  world 
generally  with  practically  no  limit  as  to  its  authority 
to  act  in  the  enforcement  of  the  claims  entrusted  to  it. 

A  "collection"  is  a  money  claim  or  demand  of  one 
person  against  another  based  on  a  breach  of  contract 
or  geerally  speaking  a  failure  to  perform  a  bounden 
duty. 

The  injured  party  may  make  his  own  demand,  or  he 
may  request  or  employ  a  layman  to  make  the  demand. 
The  layman  so  chosen  may  take  such  steps  as  he 
chooses,  to  induce  payments,  even  to  threats  of  legal 
action.  He  may  present  the  claim,  argue  its  justice, 
appeal  to  reason,  pride,  shame,  fear.  He  may,  if  author- 
ized so  to  do,  compromise,  accept  part  payment,  take 
promises  or  security,  the  same  as  his  principal  may  do. 
But  the  moment  he  goes  beyond  this,  he  invades  the 
field  of  the  lawyer  who  alone  is  the  agent  of  the  law,  li- 


AND    HIS    WORK  6 

censed  to  give  legal  advice,  to  draw  legal  papers,  to  in- 
stitute and  conduct   legal  proceedings. 

It  may  be  thought  that  a  lay  agent  in  such  a  case 
may  do  whatever  his  principal  may  do ;  but  this  is  not 
so,  for  the  principal  may  employ  an  attorney;  not  so 
the  agent,  without  specific  authority.  For  the  law  de- 
clares that  the  relation  of  client  and  attorney  is  a  rela- 
tion of  personal  confidence,  which  could  not  be  the  case 
were  the  attorney  selected  by  an  agent  acting  generally 
and  without  specific  authority, 

I  have  roughly  outlined  what  the  lay  agent  in  a 
simple  transaction  may  not  do  for  the  single  principal. 
Much  more  do  my  words  apply  to  the  agent  or  agency 
that  holds  itself  out  as  ready  to  serve  many  principals 
in  limitless  transactions. 

A  "Law  List"  or  "Lawyer's  List"  or  "Legal  Direc- 
tory" (we  shall  use  in  this  book  the  first  name)  is  a 
Directory  of  Attorneys  at  Law,  and  the  terms  usually 
refers  to  a  Directory  of  Attorneys  specializing  in  or 
holding  themselves  out  as  able  and  willing  to  practice 
commercial  law  which,  as  I  have  said,  includes  the 
handling  of  collections. 

There  are  several  Law  Lists  published  that  claim, 
and  with  some  degree  of  right,  to  publish  lawyers' 
names  irrespective  of  their  attitude  toward  commercial 
matters.  These  are  very  few  in  number.  One  directory 
(Martindale's  American  Law  Directory,  published  by 
J.  B.  Martindale  of  New  York)  aims  to  publish  a  full 
list  of  American  and  Canadian  lawyers.  It  has  no  com- 
petitor in  that  field.  Law  Lists  as  a  rule  are  Commercial 
Lawyer  Lists. 

The  business  of  these  Lists  is  primarily  and  essen- 
tially the  printing  and  disseminating  of  a  list  of  names 
for  the  benefit  of  the  commercial  and  professional  world. 
Competition  among  the  Lists,  in  the  effort  to  win  the 
confidence  and  support  of  the  lawyers  whose  names  ap- 
pear in  them,  has  introduced  into  the  business  of  list 
publishing  the  somewhat  questionable  feature  of  solicit- 


6  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ing  business  for  the  lawyers  whose  names  are  exploited, 
which  brings  in  the  question  of  ethics,  I  do  not  now  dis- 
cuss, and  opens  the  door  to  some  questionable  prac- 
tices which  if  persisted  in  must  bring  the  whole  business 
into  disrepute,  by  involving  the  lawyer  in  unethical 
situations,  calling  in  question  the  integrity  of  the  names 
listed,  and  producing  unfair  standards  of  advertising 
values,  etc.,  matters  I  do  no  more  than  here  refer  to. 

"Law  Business"  as  used  in  these  pages  is  not  a  term 
to  take  exception  to.  The  word  "business"  is  used  in 
its  wide  sense.  I  know  and  recognize  the  distinction 
between  a  business  and  a  profession.  But  in  a  general 
sense,  any  occupation  that  means  a  man's  life  work,  his 
chosen  field  of  endeavor,  is  his  business.  The  term  is 
convenient  and  I  will  use  it  for  convenience. 

It  must  be  recognized  that  the  layman,  by  invading 
the  field  of  the  law,  and  the  lawyer,  often  out  of  self- 
defense,  by  adopting  many  of  the  ways  of  the  layman 
in  the  securing  of  business,  have  both  gone  a  long  way 
toward  making  indistinct  the  line  of  difference  be- 
tween lay  and  professional  work.  I  hope  in  this  book 
to  give  a  clear  view  of  the  difference  between  the  two 
fields  and  to  assist  both  lawyer  and  layman  in  observing 
the  distinction  in  thought  and  practice. 

The  term  "Forwarder"  is  used  to  mean  the  middleman 
in  the  commercial  law  world — the  man  who,  standing 
between  the  client  and  the  attorney,  receives  the  busi- 
ness from  the  client  and  passes  it  on  or  forwards  it 
to  the  attorney.  He  usually  makes  an  attempt  first  to 
realize  on  the  demand  direct.  Failing,  he  generally  se- 
lects his  own  attorney  regardless  of  the  client.  He  cus- 
tomarily exacts  and  receives  from  the  receiver  a  division 
of  the  fees.  This  is  often  all  the  compensation  he  re- 
ceives, though  not  infrequently  he  asks  and  receives  a 
stated  sum  annually  from  the  client.  He  very  generally 
receives  from  clients  an  allowance  by  way  of  fees  that  is 
in  excess  of  what  he  allows  the  Receiver.     The  dual  re- 


AND   HIS   WORK  7 

lation  he  thus  sustains  gives  rise  to  many  abuses,  con- 
cerning which  more  hereafter. 

The  forwarder  may  be  a  lawyer  or  a  layman.  The 
largest  forwarders  are  as  a  rule  lay-firms  or  corpora- 
tions. 

The  forwarders'  great  service  to  the  commercial  world 
is  their  ability  to  relieve  the  client  of  the  work  of  follow- 
ing up  his  correspondents,  their  knowledge  of  efficient 
methods,  and  their  wide  acquaintance  with  the  Bar, 
which  no  one  client  could  readily  gain.  Their  great  ser- 
vice to  the  legal  world  is  their  ability  to  solicit  business, 
their  influence  in  getting  business  promptly  out  of  the 
clients'  hands  and  into  process  of  collection  and  their 
concentrating  large  volumes  of  business  into  a  few  sup- 
posedly competent  hands. 

The  disadvantages  of  the  middleman  system  are  not 
few  and  will  be  treated  fully  later. 

The  "Receiver"  is  but  another  name  for  the  individ- 
ual or  firm  that  actually  deals  with  the  debtor — the  man 
who  is  expected  to  do  the  execution  and  get  the  money. 
The  "Receiver"  is  usually  an  attorney,  but  a  forwarder 
may  employ  a  layman  or  a  lay-agency  to  do  his  work. 

A  house  attorney  or  agency  is  a  lawyer  or  layman 
employed  by  a  house  or  group  of  houses  on  a  salary  or 
commission  to  handle  its  collections  and  law  business. 
Such  individuals  are  not  to  be  considered  as  forwarders, 
but  simply  as  hired  employes,  differing  nothing  in  kind, 
however  much  in  degree,  from  the  client's  credit  man 
or  his  bookkeeper. 

House  agencies  and  attorneys  are  not  entitled  to  a 
division  of  fees. 

House  agencies  are  often  merely  names  for  the  col- 
lection or  bookkeeping  departments  of  business  houses. 
They  have  no  real  existence  as  agencies.  Attorneys  un- 
wittingly allowing  them  a  division  of  their  fees  are  being 
hoodwinked. 

A  "Reporting  Agency"  sells  commercial  reports. 
Strictly  speaking,  it  does  not  make  collections. 


8  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

A  "Collecting  Agency"  or  "Collection  Agency"  gen- 
erally speaking  confines  its  work  to  collecting  delinquent 
claims. 

A  "Mercantile  Agency"  generally  does  both  collect- 
ing and  reporting. 

A  "Trade  Agency"  is  an  agency  that  confines  its 
collecting  or  reporting  (generally  both)  to  some  one  or 
more  trades. 

An  Adjustment  Agency  or  Company  may  be  simply 
a  collection  agency.  As  generally  recognized  the  term 
adjustment  means  something  more  than  a  collection. 

A  collector,  lay  or  professional,  sails  as  a  rule  under 
no  false  name.  The  debtor  recognizes  him  as  but  the 
agent  of  the  client.  An  adjuster  often,  though  not  al- 
ways, approaches  the  debtor  in  the  guise  of  the  client's 
hired  man,  coming  direct  from  the  client's  place  of  busi- 
ness. His  aim  is  to  impress  the  debtor  with  the  idea 
that  the  client  would  not  think  of  employing  outside 
assistance  in  so  confidential  a  matter  as  that  which  he 
comes  to  adjust.  The  adjuster  is  usually  the  expert 
traveling  collector  of  an  adjustment  agency  which  re- 
ceives a  per  diem  for  his  time  and  service.  In  such  cases 
he  is  in  no  way  identified  with  the  client's  business, 
excepting  as  related  to  this  particular  item. 

"Associate"  (or  associated)  "Offices"  is  a  name  given 
to  groups  of  law  offices  or  groups  of  agencies  bound  to- 
gether by  agreement  to  do  or  not  to  do  certain  things, 
and  usually  there  is  an  arrangement  for  an  interchange 
of  business. 

"Minimum  Fee"  means  the  least  fee  allowable.  It 
does  not  mean  that  a  larger  fee  cannot  be  charged,  but  it 
does  mean  that  a  smaller  cannot  be  charged. 

"Uniform  Rates,"  in  connection  with  fees,  refers  to  a 
much  to  be  desired  schedule  of  fees  on  commercial 
matters  that  shall  be  universally  recognized  and  adopted 
as  standard. 


AND    HIS    WORK 


THE    CHARACTER'   AND    SCOPE    OF   THE 
COMMERCIAL  PRACTICE. 

The  commercial  practice  is  the  most  nearly  all-em- 
bracing sepecialty  in  the  field  of  the  law.  In  its  pursuit 
the  lawyer  obtains  an  experience  the  widest  possible, 
and  his  talents  have  most  varied  play. 

This  specialty  invades  the  field  of  the  real-estate 
lawyer,  the  bakruptcy  lawyer,  the  banking  lawyer,  the 
corporation  lawyer  and  even  that  of  the  criminal  lawyer. 

This  sort  of  practice  requires  a  keen  knowledge  of 
men  and  of  business.  It  requires  a  long  list  of  attributes, 
not  needed  in  other  lines  of  professional  work,  by  the 
lack  of  any  one  of  which  the  lawyer  may  be  only  a  par- 
tial success. 

The  character  of  the  work  is  clean.  The  lawyer's 
clients  are  business  men.  If  he  deals  with  criminals  and 
crooks  at  all  it  is  generally  opposed  to  them  and  not  in 
their  behalf. 

The  work  is  interesting  and  never  monotonous,  as 
the  lawyer  comes  in  contact  with  a  large  part  of  the 
community  and  every  fresh  item  of  business  presents  a 
new  matter  of  interest. 

The  work  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  mail-order 
business,  which  is  a  peculiarly  fascinating  work.  What 
would  you  think  on  reaching  your  office  in  the  morning 
if  you  found  a  dozen  new  clients  awaiting  you,  yet  in 
your  morning  mail,  if  you  are  practicing  in  a  stirring 
community,  are  ten  or  a  dozen  new  clients  represented 
by  items  of  business,  sent  you  through  channels  many 
of  which  are  unkown  to  you. 

And  unlike  the  dozen  clients  who,  standing  without 
your  door,  demanding  your  immediate  attention,  your 
mail  clients  are  quiet,  peaceful,  patient,  and  you  are  pri- 
vileged to  take  up  their  work  in  a  systematic  and  order- 
ly way,  and  in  the  way  and  the  time  you  choose. 


10  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

There  is  an  exhiliration  in  the  experience  of  the  ac- 
tive, successful  commercial  lawyer,  since  the  unexpected 
is  continually  happening  and  no  two  days  are  alike. 

The  work  is  of  such  a  character  that  with  each  item 
of  business  the  lawyer  is  brought  into  contact  with  at 
least  two  persons — the  creditor  and  the  debtor.  The 
opportunity  thus  given,  by  even  the  most  inconsequen- 
tial matter,  to  enlarge  one's  acquaintance  and  clientele 
by  adroit  handling  of  both  parties  is  too  often  lost 
sight  of. 

The  clients  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer  may  be,  and 
generally  are,  continuous  in  their  patronage.  A  man 
may  in  a  life  time  have  one  damage  suit,  or  one  real 
estate  difficulty,  or  one  divorce,  or  be  charged  with 
one  crime.  As  a  client  he  comes  once  and  no  more. 
Many  thousands  of  men  and  women  never  see  the  inside 
of  a  law  office.  The  business  house  that  becomes  the 
commercial  lawyer's  client  often  comes  to  be  a  very 
Tennyson's  brook,  going  on  forever,  with  business  at 
every  rising  of  the  sun.  I  recall  one  such  client  in  my 
early  practice  who  mailed  me  fresh,  crisp  farmers'  paper 
as  fast  as  it  came  back  from  banks.  Every  morning  a 
packet  of  these  notes  reached  my  desk.  They  were  gilt- 
edged.  That  client  paid  my  rent,  office  expenses,  and  a 
large  part  of  my  living.  Compared  with  the  occasional 
client  with  his  timorous  step  and  suspicious  eye,  making 
his  quadrennial  visit  to  a  law  office,  and  probably  a  dif- 
ferent office  with  every  visit,  this  business  house  was 
as  a  filet  mignon  to  a  bone  polished  by  a  bull  pup. 

But  we  must  not  think  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer's 
work  as  all  cream  and  no  skimmed  milk.  On  the  con- 
trary a  large  part  of  what  comes  to  the  Commercial 
Lawyer's  desk  is  skimmed  milk  and  soured  at  that. 

We  hope  to  be  able  to  tell  the  reason  for  the  pres- 
ence of  much  junk  in  the  Lawyer's  mail  and  to  suggest 
how  it  may  be  utilized.  Suffice  it  to  say  now,  our  ex- 


AND    HIS    WORK  11 

perience  is  that  nothing  is  so  bad  that  some  good  may 
not  come  from  it  by  the  use  of  judgment  and  diplomacy. 
The  work  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer  is  broadening 
in  that  he  is  serving  men  and  institutions  of  widely  vary- 
ing character  in  widely  varying  locations.  He  is  rep- 
resenting today  a  Florida  orange  grower  in  attaching 
a  carload  of  oranges.  He  is  tomorrow  corresponding 
with  a  Chicago  merchant  as  to  the  terms  of  sale  of  a 
shipment  of  clothing.  The  next  day  he  is  representing 
a  farm  implement  house  in  New  York  in  collecting  in- 
stalments unpaid  on  a  threshing  outfit.  His  correspon- 
dence is  with  a  great  variety  of  men  on  a  great  variety 
of  subjects.  This  is  not  true  of  any  other  class  of  law- 
yers. ■  ■'M'^.'WW 

The  scope  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer's  work  is  lim- 
itless as  to  territory.  He  may  wake  tomorrow  and  find 
himself  employed  by  clients  in  the  Philippines,  of  whom 
he  never  dreamt.  He  may,  and  if  he  is  an  active  Com- 
mercial Lawyer  in  a  large  city,  be  compelled  to  read 
through  translators  commissions  sent  him  by  individ- 
uals who  write  a  language  foreign  to  his  own. 

In  some  cities  there  are  Commercial  Lawyers  who 
have  come  to  so  monopolize  the  commercial  practice 
that  there  is  little  chance  of  anything  arising  in  any 
part  of  the  world  affecting  their  fellow  townsmen  with- 
out it  coming  into  their  hands.  In  other  words,  the 
world  is  their  client,  and  if  they  do  not  get  the  business 
it  is  because  the  world  has  nothing  to  scrap  over  in  that 
particular  locality. 

The  Commercial  Lawyer's  work,  if  it  does  not  re- 
quire travel,  invites  it.  The  time  comes  when  the  law- 
yer yearns  to  see  the  world  for  which  he  has  been  doing 
business  at  long  range.  He  wants  that  the  name  of  a 
valued  client  in  Chicago  or  New  York  shall  be  more 
than  a  name.  He  knows,  too,  that  the  great  business 
centers  teem  with  business  and  with  up-to-date  busi- 
ness men  using  up-to-date  methods.     He  wants  to  rub 


12  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

elbows  with  the  men  who  talk  to  him  through  the  mail, 
and  come  to  closer  understandings  and  wider  employ- 
ment. 

The  result  is  that  many  lawyers  have  the  travel  habit 
well  fixed.  They  may  be  expected  to  visit  the  centers 
of  commerce  every  so  often.  The  process  is  broadening. 
These  men  go  home  with  new  spirit  and  new  purpose 
and,  ofttimes,  with  new  clients  and  business — always 
with  a  higher  regard  for  the  importance  of  their  work. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  has  been 
a  God-send  to  the  Commercial  Lawyer— Forwarder  and 
Receiver  alike — in  offering  the  opportunities  for  an  an- 
nual outing  under  pleasing  auspices^  where  one  may 
meet  not  one,  two  or  three  of  his  correspondents  in  a 
day,  but  scores  of  them  and  where,  if  he  is  a  good  fel- 
low, he  may  annex  hundreds  of  friends  and  prospective 
business  clients  without  the  asking. 

I  have  seen,  in  the  twenty-four  years  of  the  League's 
history,  the  process  of  individual  growth  going  on  from 
year  to  year  as  I  have  met  these  men  annually.  The 
young  man  who  first  came  to  a  convention  timidly, 
keeping  himself  modestly  in  the  background,  is  now  at 
the  front,  genial,  buoyant,  popular — a  leader  in  conven- 
tion activities.     The  work  has  broadened  the  man. 

Treadmill  work  narrows  a  man.  The  shoemaker  at 
his  bench,  the  tailor  at  his  needle,  the  bookkeeper  at  his 
books  must  struggle  against  vast  temptations  to  mental 
slothfulness.  The  active,  ever  changing  work  of  the 
Commercial  Lawyer,  except  in  rare  instances  where  the 
lawyer  is  naturally  a  recluse,  prevents  the  growing  of 
the  shell  and  keeps  the  man  alert  to  the  end. 

The  scope  of'  the  Commercial  Lawyer's  practice, 
considering  the  kind  of  work  it  entails,  is,  as  we  have 
said,  very  wide.  It  embraces  the  handling  of  mer- 
cantile claims,  the  handling  of  matters  for  or  against 
bankrupts,  the  adjustment  of  disputes  in  the  business 
world,  the  handling  of  bills  of  sale,  mortgages  and  all 


AND    HIS    WORK  13 

forms  of  securities,  the  advising  in  every  form  of  busi- 
nes  transaction,  the  reorganizing  of  business,  the  stop- 
ping of  goods  in  transit,  the  ferreting  out  and  punishing 
of  fraud  and  a  vast  variety  of  other  employment. 

These  are  some  of  the  regular  lines  of  effort  which 
the  Commercial  Lawyer  must  follow.  But  every  form 
of  proceeding  at  law  falls  occasionally  to  his  lot.  So 
that  one  speaks  within  bounds  when  he  says  the  Com- 
mercial Lawyer  must  of  all  lawyers  be  the  nearest  to 
the  "all-around  lawyer," 

Litigation  must  inevitably  grow  out  of  the  Commer- 
cial Lawyer's  work,  and  no  Commercial  Lawyer  is 
worthy  of  the  name  who  cannot  with  reasonable  skill 
present  his  client's  case  in  court.  Every  well  organized 
law  firm  must  have  at  least  one  competent  court  lawyer 
in  its  membership. 

The  character  of  the  work  is  such  that  at  least  one 
member  should  be  a  lawyer  with  a  business  head.  Law- 
years  as  a  class  have  little  care  for  system  and  method 
as  practiced  in  up-to-date  business  offices.  Their  train- 
ing is  away  from  this.  Occasionally  a  lawyer  appears 
who  would  have  made  a  greater  success  as  a  business 
man  than  as  a  lawyer.  Such  a  member  of  a  commer- 
cial law  firm  is  invaluable. 

Some  lawyers  make  great  successes  in  specializing 
in  certain  lines  of  commercial  business.  These  must, 
in  all  cases,  be  lawyers  in  the  large  centers.  While 
these  lawyers  hold  themselves  out  as  in  the  general 
commercial  practice,  their  clientele  is  known  to  be  almost 
wholly  in  particular  lines,  as  woolens,  electrical  goods, 
boots  and  shoes,  etc.  These  specialties  are  adopted  usu- 
ally by  reason  of  the  lawyer's  close  acquaintance  or  as- 
sociation with  an  organization  in  the  particular  line. 
He  becomes  the  recognized  counsel  of  the  association 
and  its  members  are  encouraged  to  give  him  their  work. 

In  a  word,  the  scope  and  character  of  the  lawyer's 
commercial  practice  is  very  much  what  he  makes  it.     As 


14  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

with  every  other  class  of  professional  man,  the  Com- 
mercial Lawyer  gets  largely  what  he  goes  after,  and 
this  we  say  with  no  idea  of  suggesting  the  unethical. 
Some  physicians  have  a  slum  practice,  and  some  a  bon- 
ton  practice ;  so  some  Commercial  Lawyers  are  known 
to  attract  to  themselves  the  poorer  class  of  business, 
while  others  attract  only  the  better.  But  more  of  this 
later. 

Mr.  Henry  Deutsch  of  Minneapolis,  an  ex-president 
of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  has  written 
on  this  subject,  and  in  conclusion  we  quote  freely  from 
what  he  says : 

"Like  all  activities,  this  field  presents  the  opportunity  for 
choice  which  must  be  exercised  by  the  neophyte  early  in  his 
career,  and  his  goal,  ambition  and  ideals  must  indicate  the  path- 
way which  he  will  pursue. 

"From  whatever  standpoint  considered,  the  commercial  law 
practice  presents  the  most  alluring  attractions,  particularly  to 
the  young  man  just  entering  upon  his  career  and  eager  not  only 
to  make  rapid  progress,  but  to  make  his  way  financially,  as  he 
progresses  either  professionally  or  in  a  business  way. 

"In  the  first  place,  the  commercial  law  practice  offers  to  the 
young  man  the  fulfillment  of  his  first  desire — that  is,  the  oppor- 
tunity to  have  business  and  in  it  to  demonstrate  his  capacity 
and  ability.  Secondly,  as  a  corollary  thereto,  it  opens  for  him 
the  opportunity,  almost  immediately,  to  obtain  that  actual  prac- 
tice and  experience  which  is  the  most  necessary  equipment  for 
rounding  out  the  theoretical  knowledge  obtained  either  in  the 
law  school  or  in  other  legal  study.  Thirdly,  it  offers  immediate 
returns  financially,  and  last,  but  not  least,  in  the  preliminary 
experience  of  the  young  lawyer  it  opens  to  him  possibilities  of 
contact  with  the  business  of  his  whole  country  as  contrasted  with 
the  ordinary  limitations  of  his  local  practice. 

"To  these  advantages  might  be  added  the  opportunities,  par- 
ticularly emphasized  and  made  possible  through  membership  in 
the  Commercial  Law  League,  for  meeting  and  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  hundreds  of  lawyers,  list  men,  forwarders  and 
other  desirable  connections  throughout  the  United  States,  all  of 
which  constitute  a  most  valuable  asset,  not  only  from  the  finan- 
cial and  professional  standpoint,  but  also  from  the  personal  side, 
for  the  acquaintance  and  friendships  thus  obtained  in  the  experi- 
ence of  the  older  practitioners  have  bcome  valued  as  indispen- 
sable and  beyond  price. 

"Concretely,  the  scope  of  commercial  law  practice  is  almost 
as  extensive  as  the  law  itself,  because  its  practice  enters  into 
practically  all  human  activities  so  far  as  they  are  governed  by 
the  practices  of  law.  Specifically,  we  may  fairly  say  that  con- 
tained within  the  field  of  commercial  law  practice  is  every  branch 
of  the  law,  with  only  the  possible  exception  of  that  of  domestic 


AND     HIS    WORK  15 

relations,  patents  and  copyrights,  criminal  law,  admiralty  and  the 
purely  technically  limited  real  estate  law,  although  into  all  of 
these  fields  does  the  commercial  lawyer  find  occasion  to  enter  at 
some  time  or  other  in  his  experince.  The  ramifications  of  his 
practice,  therefore,  extend  into  practically  every  known  field  of 
the  law,  and  thus  he  cannot  be  said  to  specialize  in  a  sense  that 
he  limits  his  practice  to  particular  lines  of  a  profession,  although 
in  a  broader  sense  he  is  really  a  specialist. 

"Opportunity  knocks  at  his  door  from  all  directions.  What 
on  its  face  may  seem  to  be  only  an  ordinary  collection  may  take 
him  into  the  bankruptcy  court,  in  which  he  may  find  himself  in 
the  most  varied  practice,  as  that  of  attorney  for  the  petitioning 
creditor,  in  which  he  becomes  involved  in  all  the  intricacies  of  the 
bankruptcy  practice,  which  raises  the  interesting  questions  of 
pleadings,  fraudulent  conveyances,  concealment  of  property,  pref- 
erences, Federal  jurisdiction  and  procedure,  and  may  culminate  in 
the  actual  trial  practice  necessary  for  an  adjudication,  which 
lines  must  bring  out  skill  and  ability  equal  to  that  necessary  in 
the  best  conducted  trial  of  cases  in  any  court.  He  may  be  attor- 
ney for  the  debtor,  in  which  case  his  skill  would  be  demanded  in 
the  defense  of  his  client  against  involuntary  petition  and  against 
claims  of  fraud.  Possibly,  ultimately,  either  as  attorney  for  cred- 
itors, or  debtor,  he  will  be  called  into  the  criminal  court  for  the 
conduct  of  or  defense  against  prosecution  under  that  branch  of 
the  bankruptcy  law.  As  attorney  for  trustee,  he  may  be  brought 
into  both  the  common-law  and  the  equity  branches  of  the  court 
in  actions  to  recover  moneys  due  the  estate,  actions  to  set  aside 
preferences  and  fraudulent  conveyances,  actions  to  determine  title 
as  between  the  trustee  and  creditors  claiming  to  have  prior  right 
to  property  involved  in  the  bankrupt  estate,  questions  of  exemp- 
tions under  the  state  law,  rights  of  creditors  occupying  incon- 
sistent positions,  the  question  of  validity,  preference  of  priorities 
of  securities,  liens  or  other  encumbrance  rights,  and  practically 
the  whole  gamut  of  legal  questions,  which  will  test  both  his  in- 
genuity and  his  technical  knowledge  in  almost  every  branch  of 
the  law.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  claim  in  his  hands  does  not 
become  involved  in  the  bankruptcy  court,  it  may  present  inter- 
esting questions  either  in  or  out  of  court,  involving  the  knowl- 
edge of  both  the  fundamental  principles  and  the  procedure  and 
practice  of  law  in  nearly  every  one  of  its  branches.  The  three 
large  branches  of  the  law,  contracts,  negotiable  instruments  and 
sales,  coupled  with  real  estate  and  chattel  mortgages,  conditional 
sales,  liens,  bailments  and  agency,  fall  naturally  into  the  lines  of 
commercial  practice.  The  present  tendency  towards  concentra- 
tion of  business  and  the  tremendous  activity  of  corporations  in 
business  life  necessarily  brings  the  commercial  lawyer  into  very 
intimate  and  close  contact  with  corporations  and  the  necessity  of 
being  cognizant  of  and  proficient  in  the  practice  governing  those 
associations  and  the  procedure  and  practice  in  connection  there- 
with. 

"The  adjustment  of  business  items  brings  the  commercial 
lawyer  necessarily  into  relations  with  those  problems  which  must 
constantly  arise  in  the  adjustment  of  accounts  and  otherwise, 
involving  conveyances,  settlement  of  estates  and  other  matters 
which  very  naturally  bring  within  the  purview  of  the  commercial 


16  THE   COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

law  practice  of  laws  related  to  real  property,  probate  of  estates, 
and  even  oftentimes  indirectly,  into  domestic  relations  and  other 
branches  of  law  which  at  first  blush  seem  totally  unrelated  to 
commercial  law  practice.  In  other  words^  therefore,  the  com- 
mercial law  practice  may  be  deemed  the  most  heterogeneous  and 
cosmopolitan  branch  of  legal  practice,  being  practically  all-em- 
bracing and  all-inclusive. 

"In  addition  to  the  strictly  technical  lines,  it  branches  out 
still  further,  taking  in  the  matter  of  adjustment,  compromise, 
arbitration,  bookkeeping,  accounting,  scientific  management  of 
business,  reorganization  of  business  and  corporations.  In  fact, 
the  commercial  lawyer  stands  in  relation  to  legal  practice  much 
in  the  same  position  held  by  the  old  family  physician  who  needed 
to  be  equipped  to  take  care  of  every  ill.  From  the  foregoing  it 
might  be  assumed  that  the  wide  scope  of  commercial  practice 
must  necessarily  limit  the  expectations  of  the  practitioner  along 
the  lines  of  the  development  of  real  legal  talent,  and  the  upbuild- 
ing of  a  desirable  legal  practice.  It  is  in  connection  with  this 
phase  of  the  subject  that  the  line  of  demarcation  or  choice  rests 
entirely  with  the  commercial  lawyer.  The  commercial  law  prac- 
tice offers  opportunities  without  limit.  Where  those  opportuni- 
ties will  lead  depends  on  the  lines  of  advantage  taken  thereof. 
The  lawyer  must  determine  whether  he  desires  simply  to  make  a 
living,  or,  more  than  that,  a  competence  out  of  the  practice  as 
his  only  aim,  or  whether  in  addition  thereto  he  desires  to  attain 
to  a  position  of  standing  in  his  profession,  and  to  be  recognized 
as  a  lawyer  as  well  as  a  mere  business  or  collection  man.  It  is 
purely  a  question  of  ideals.  If  one  is  satisfied  simply  with  the 
question  of  making  money,  he  can  do  so  in  the  commercial  prac- 
tice probably  much  easier  than  in  any  other  lines  of  practice  and 
with  quicker  personal  results.  In  that  event,  however,  he  must 
be  content  to  be  permanently  recorded  as  merely  a  collection 
lawyer,  divorced  from  the  honor  and  standing  to  which  so  many 
members  of  the  bar  have  attained  in  their  professional  and  pub- 
lic lives.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  desires  to  choose  the  better 
course  of  maintaining  his  professional  ideals  and  standards,  but 
at  the  same  time  obtain  the  advantages  that  inhere  in  the  com- 
mercial law  practice,  the  way  is  just  as  open,  although  somewhat 
narrower,  and  not  quite  as  quickly  run.  In  other  words,  the 
choice  lies  between  treating  the  commercial  practice  as  a  business 
or  as  a  profession.  The  former  limits  itself;  the  latter  combines 
the  two  in  a  broader  and  wider  field. 

"In  this  larger  vision,  the  lawyer  gains  all  the  advantages  of 
the  commercial  practice,  but  subordinates  the  details  of  the  busi- 
ness portion  to  his  professional  ideals  and  standards.  The  work- 
ing out  of  the  practice  makes  his  professional  ideals  primary,  and 
the  matter  of  business  incidental ;  although  the  latter  necessarily 
follows  the  former.  The  lawyer  who  becomes  merely  a  drudge  and 
slave  to  the  business  details  of  the  commercial  practice  seldom  rises 
above  the  level  of  the  humdrum  routine  features  of  that  prac- 
tice, and  never  attains  eminence  in  the  professional  sphere.  The 
lawyer,  however,  who  conducts  his  practice  so  that  the  details 
and  routine  handhng  of  claims  are  left  to  subordinates,  and  de- 
votes his  time  to  the  supervision  of  his  office  and  the  working 
out  of  the  professional  questions  and  matters  which  come  before 


AND    HIS    WORK  17 

him,  keeps  himself  removed  from  the  danger  of  becoming  and 
being  known  as  a  mere  collection  agent,  retains  his  professional 
ideals  and  possibilities,  and  makes  himself  eligible  to  the  attain- 
ment of  those  honors  and  distinctions  which  so  often  fall  to  the 
legal  profession.  At  the  same  time  he  is  opening  the  avenues  for 
a  most  extensive  and  lucrative  practice.  Not  only  do  the  oppor- 
tunities in  the  practice  of  commercial  law  give  almost  unlimited 
scope  to  the  lawyer's  activities  in  a  professional  way,  but  they 
likewise  offer  the  means  for  a  general  all-around  liberal  educa- 
tion, particularly  along  business,  economic  and  political  lines, 
for  the  points  of  contact,  instead  of  being  limited  to  a  localized 
narrow  horizon,  may  be  made  practically  nation — if  not  world — 
wide,  and  through  the  channels  formed,  bring  to  the  lawyer  the 
streams  not  only  of  business  and  the  emoluments  thereof,  but 
the  much  desired  asset  pf  wide  acquaintanceship,  which,  when 
properly  cultivated,  makes  possible  the  formation  of  the  many 
delightful  and  lasting  friendships  which  have  resulted  in  the  ex- 
periences of  those  having  membership  in  the  Commercial  Law 
League. 

"To  epitomize,  then,  the  commercial  law  practice  offers  an 
almost  unlimited  field  for  the  exercise  of  business  and  profes- 
sional ability  and  capacity,  limited  only  by  choice  of  the  indi- 
vidual. In  addition  thereto,  and  beyond  the  scope  of  any  other 
field  of  legal  practice,  it  affords  unnumbered  opportunities  for 
legitimate  publicity  and  wide  acquaintanceship.  The  work  is 
always  interesting  and  full  of  diversified  activity.  For  the  young 
man  it  is  the  stepping  stone  to  the  widest  fields  which  ambition 
desires." 


18  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

COMMERCIAL  LAW  AS  A  PROFITABLE  FIELD 
OF  ENDEAVOR. 

I  cannot  say  that  lawyers  as  a  class  are  money  mak- 
ers. A  few  years  ago  I  made  some  study  of  this  mat- 
ter and  here  is  what  I  found  in  several  typical  states  of 
the  United  States : 

Not  to  be  exact,  there  were  800  lawyers  in  South 
Carolina. 

Fifteen  of  these,  counting  two  who  had  retired,  were 
worth  over  $100,000. 

Data  are  not  at  hand  to  show  how  much  of  this 
wealth,  fabulous  for  a  lawyer,  came  by  the  way  of  the 
practice  of  the  law,  and  how  much  by  inheritance,  good 
investment,  etc. 

Nine  were  Charleston  men. 

About  the  same  number  could  qualify  to  over 
$50,000,  some  of  them  close  up  to  the  $100,000  mark. 

About  180  South  Carolina  lawyers  had  from  $1,000 
to  $2,000. 

You  could  count  on  171  as  having  from  $2,000  to 
$5,000. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-two  claimed  from  $5,000 
to  $10,000.  Seventy-three  from  $10,000  to  $20,000,  fifty- 
six  from  $20,000  to  $30,000,  twenty-one  from  $30,000  to 
$50,000. 

About  one  out  of  four  and  a  half  lawyers  in  the  state 
had  practically  nothing,  the  number  being  180. 

The  average  wealth  of  the  lawyers  of  South  Carolina 
was  not  far  from  $10,000.  But  subtracting  the  wealth 
of  38,  the  average  ran  about  $6,000.  Subtracting  100 
of  the  topnotchers,  the  average  for  the  remaining  700 
was  about  $3,500. 

I  was  interested  to  learn  the  financial  standing  of  the 
South  Carolina  Lawyers  who  advertised  in  the  Legal 
Directories  and  Law  Lists.  To  my  surprise  I  found 
that  in  one  Directory  92  lawyers  of  the  state  paid  money 
for  advertising  and   that   the   average   wealth   of  these 


AND    HIS    WORK  19 

lawyers  was  in  excess  of  $25,000  or  two  and  a  half  as 
much  as  the  average  of  the  lawyers  of  the  state  gener- 
ally. In  other  words,  the  "get-there"  lawyers  are  of  the 
same  brand  in  South  Carolina  as  elsewhere. 

Further,  five  of  the  thirteen  lawyers  of  the  state  in 
active  practice  who  had  over  $100,000,  were  among 
these  advertisers,  and  nine  of  the  fourteen  who  had 
from  $50,000  to  $100,000.  Only  one  of  the  180  who  had 
nothing  was  found  among  the  advertisers,  and  only  16 
of  the  171  who  had  from  $1,000  to  $2,000. 

Charleston,  with  a  population  of  58,800,  had  about 
70  lawyers,  or  one  in  840. 

The  Charleston  bar  is  better  than  the  average. 
About  one-half  were  men  over  50  years  of  age  and  about 
the  same  number  were  men  of  very  good  ability. 

Only  17  Charleston  lawyers  could  be  said  to  have 
practically  nothing  in  the  way  of  money  and  property, 
while  nine  were  worth  over  $100,000. 

Columbia  had  some  90  lawyers,  with  a  population  of 
26,300,  or  one  to  290.  As  a  natural  result  we  find  about 
one  in  three  of  the  lawyers  with  nothing.  Indeed,  70 
of  the  90  had  less  than  $5,000,  and  50  had  less  than 
$2,000.  One  had  over  $100,000  and  three  from  $50,000 
to  $100,000.  Leave  out  25  of  the  topnotchers  and  the 
remainder  averages  less  than  $1,500. 

There  were  12  lawyers  in  Columbia  who  advertised 
in  one  of  the  Legal  Directories  before  me.  Their 
average  wealth  was  about  $20,000,  as  against  $7,300  for 
the  city  generally  and  as  against  $1,500,  the  average  for 
the  non-advertiser. 

The  bar  of  Sumter  is  well  to  do  financially.  Its  22 
members  included  one  with  over  $100,000,  four  with  be- 
tween $50,000  and  $100,000,  one  with  between  $30,000 
and  $50,000,  two  with  between  $20,000  and  $30,000,  one 
with  from  $10,000  to  $20,000,  one  with  from  $5,000  to 
$10,000,  four  from  $2,000  to  $5,000,  two  from  $1,000 
to  $2,000,  and  six  had  nothing.     Only  the  wealthiest  ad- 


20  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

vertised  in  the  directories.  All  but  three  of  those  who 
could  be  said  to  be  worth  nothing  were  comparatively 
newcomers  at  the  bar. 

Two  hundred  and  eighteen  of  South  Carolina's  800 
lawyers  were  over  50  years  of  age,  22  of  these  had  over 
$50,000,  31  had  over  $30,000,  118  had  over  $5,000,  47  had 
less  than  $2,000;  that  is,  one  in  five;  24  had  noting. 

I  studied  South  Dakota: 

In  round  numbers  there  were  700  lawyers  practicing 
in  South  Dakota.     Seven  of  these  had  over  $100,000. 

There  were  15  who  could  count  up  from  $50,000  to 
$100,000. 

Thirty-two  could  qualify  for  between  $30,000  and 
$50,000,  28  for  between  $20,000  and  $30,000,  71  for  from 
$10,000  to  $20,000,  91  from  $5,000  to  $10,000,  207  for  from 
$2,000  to  $5,000,  116  for  from  $1,000  to  $2,000. 

One  hundred  and  sixteen,  about  one  in  six,  had  prac- 
tically nothing. 

The  average  wealth  of  South  Dakota  lawyers  was 
about  $9,000.  Drop  off  the  82  topnotchers  and  the  aver- 
age for  the  remaining  618  was  about  $4,500. 

I  found  in  just  one  of  the  law  lists  120  South  Dakota 
lawyers  advertising;  that  is,  one  in  about  six  of  the 
whole  number — in  just  one  directory,  bear  in  mind. 
They  were  not  the  poorest  lawyers  in  the  State ;  on  the 
contrary  they  were  among  the  best.  Their  average 
wealth  was  $16,500  or  thereabouts.  Not  one  of  the  113 
who  had  nothing  accumulated  were  advertisers.  As  I 
have  said,  outside  of  the  top  82,  the  average  wealth  of 
the  South  Dakota  lawyer  was  about  $4,500. 

Aberdeen  had  a  population  of  10,800  and  35  lawyers 

in  active  practice one  to  about  300.     Contrary  to  what 

one  might  expect  in  this  comparatively  new  country, 
half  of  the  members  of  this  bar  were  over  50  years  ot 
age. 

Sioux  Falls  had  a  population  of  14,000  and  had  46 
lawyers — one  in  306. 


AND    HIS    WORK  21 

Of  the  46,  21  paid  money  to  a  single  law  list.  These 
21  embraced  almost  all  the  leading  firms  of  the  city. 

The  bar  of  Sioux  Falls  was  found  exceptionally  good, 
ranking  high  financially  and  professionally.  There 
were  not  more  than  four  or  five  lawyers  in  the  city  who 
could  not  claim  to  be  in  the  comfortable  class.  There 
were  no  men  of  great  wealth,  but  20  were  entitled  to 
go  in  over  the  $10,000  crowd. 

Arizona  has  about  275  lawyers,  or  one  lawyer  to 
every  706  of  its  inhabitants.  Just  about  one-half,  137, 
were  worth  less  than  $2,000,  while  one-fourth  had  prac- 
tically nothing.  Only  19  had  more  than  $20,000  and 
only  38  over  $10,000.  Thirty-eight  of  Arizona's  law- 
yers have  a  total  of  $1,220,000  and  the  remaining  237 
had  $504,000  divided  among  them,  with  an  average  of 
about  $2,120  each.  There  were  three  who  were  rated  at 
over  $100,000  each,  and  two  had  from  $50,000  to 
$100,000.  These  raise  the  average  for  all  Arizona  law- 
yers, rich  and  poor  to  $6,265. 

As  compared  with  other  callings  the  law  does  not 
rank  high  as  a  money-making  field  of  effort.  Statistics 
as  to  the  earnings  of  Princeton  graduates  were  recently 
published.  The  table  of  incomes  gives  the  following 
results : 

"Business  for  the  first  ten  years  gave  the  following 
average  incomes  from  the  first  to  the  eleventh :  $705.54, 
$934.42,  $1,196.19,  $1,956.61,  $2,402.77,  $2,860.30,  $2,756- 
.50,  $3,073.64,  $3,861.46,  $4,684.69. 

"Teachers  for  the  first  ten  years  earned  the  following 
average  incomes  each  year:  $784.72,  $839.70,  $1,005.58, 
$1,110,  $1,215.35,  $1,404.16,  $1,532.08,  $1,715.38,  $1,729.16, 
$1,779.16. 

"The  clergymen's  averages  began  the  third  year  after 
graduation  and  were:  $520,  $1,011.25,  $1,187.33,  $1,- 
242.85,  $1,421.42,  $1,550,  $1,607.14,  $1,714.25. 

"Lawyers  earned  during  the  ten  years  beginning  at 
once  after  graduation:     $355.20,  $610.16,  $900,  $1,389.41, 


22  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

$2,094.61,  $2,890.10,  $3,089.16,  $3,344.18,  $4,140.08,  $4,- 
994.88. 

"Physicians  earned  the  following,  beginning  the  sec- 
ond year  after  graduation  from  Princeton:  $1,106.25, 
$1,714.87,  $1,471.15,  $1,366.22,  $1,503.60,  $2,116.13,  $2,- 
434.48,  $3,094.45. 

"Engineers  earned  $648.88,  $1,029.50,  $1,218,  $1,328,- 
.18,  $1,878.18,  $2,620,  $2,387.55,  $2,707,  $2,700,  $3,002. 

"The  average  incomes  of  journalists  were  $741.25, 
$825,  $1,096.66,  $1,213.33,  $1,413,  $1,412.50,  $1,740,  $1,- 
983.75,  $2,115. 

"The  average  incomes  from  other  occupations,  such 
as  farming,  chemistry,  forestry,  etc.,  were  as  follows : 
$766.53,  $878.57,  $1,016.42,  $1,409.23,  $1,758.33,  $1,%9.23, 
$2,032.30,  $2,684.61,  $2,830,  $3,025.38. 

This  may  be  said  of  the  law,  that  more  roads  into 
wealth  and  preferment  branch  out  from  it  than  is  the 
case  with  any  other  one  kind  of  work.  No  doubt  the 
wealth  ascribed  to  the  highly  rated  lawyers  in  the  sta- 
tistics given  above  is  wealth  inherited  or  made  from 
investments.  Seldom  is  a  fortune  made  from  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law  alone. 

Of  the  law  specialties  the  commercial  specialty  gives 
the  quickest  introduction  to  an  income.  Young  men 
most  speedily  get  returns  from  this  sort  of  practice  than 
from  any  other.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  a  hustling 
young  Commercial  Lawyer  to  be  paying  his  way  within 
a  year  of  his  start,  and  often  within  five  years  he  is  sup- 
porting an  office  and  a  home  comfortably.  I  could  give 
instance  after  instance  to  illustrate.  Every  city  and 
many  country  communities  can  supply  them. 

If  you  will  run  down  the  list  of  the  representatives 
of  the  leading  law  directories,  and  these  are,  almost  to 
a  man,  Commercial  Lawyers,  and  go  to  Martindale's 
for  their  ratings  you  will  find  them  rated  at  least  b.  v., 
and  usually  a.  v.;  you  will  discover  that  in  the  matter  of 
financial   worth   they   average   way   above    the   general 


AND    HIS    WORK  23 

average  for  the  Bar  of  the  town.  This  is  particularly- 
true  of  the  Commercial  Lawyers  outside  of  the  cosmo- 
politan centers.  I  have  shown  this  in  my  South  Caro- 
lina, South  Dakota  and  Arizona  statistics. 

Then,  too,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  Commer- 
cial Lawyer  as  a  class  is  younger  in  years  than  is  any 
other  class.  All  the  more  noteworthy  then  that  he  is 
given  a  higher  rating  by  an  unprejudiced  authority. 

One  cannot  escape  the  conclusion  therefore  that  for 
quick  attainment  of  a  fair  income  the  Commercial  Law 
specialty  is  the  most  desirable. 

The  specialty  may  easily  be  made  to  produce  from 
the  start.  In  any  other  line  there  is  more  or  less  wait- 
ing for  patronage,  as  clientage  is  generally  in  fixed  chan- 
nels. The  Commercial  client  is  more  fluent.  He  is 
more  restless.  He  usually  has  many  commissions  to 
give  and  he  is  inclined  to  try  experiments.  There  is 
always  a  hope  that  he  may  yet  light  on  some  one  who 
can  get  blood  from  turnips.  He  therefore  in  a  sense  in- 
vites the  newcomer  with  his  ambitions,  his  energy  and 
his  high  hopes. 

My  own  beginnings  are  fresh  in  my  memory.  How 
long  I  might  have  waited  for  the  chance  client  with  his 
piece  of  real  law  business — a  case  to  be  tried,  a  corpo- 
ration to  be  organized,  a  will  to  be  drawn — I  do  not 
know,  but  I  do  know  that  letting  it  be  known  at  once 
that  commercial  work  was  welcome  and  that  I  courted 
but  a  trial,  I  was  permitted  to  open  my  Business-Re- 
ceived docket  within  thirty  days  after  I  set  foot  in  the 
city  of  my  adoption — a  stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

No  business  breeds  faster  than  a  commercial  busi- 
ness well  taken  care  of.  Trace  back  your  business  to 
its  sources  and  learn  how  nearly  related  each  important 
item  is  to  some  other  and  that  other  to  still  another. 
I  took  a  desperate  claim  against  a  man  who  was  stealing 
a  threshing  outfit  from  the  manufacturers,  having  given 
notes  and  then  disappearing  from  the  community  with 


24  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

the  machinery.  He  was  worthless  and  was  doing  work 
somewhere  among  the  small  farmers  in  the  newly  set- 
tled land  known  as  "the  thumb"  in  Michigan.  He 
was  collecting  his  pay  from  the  farmers,  drinking  it  up 
and  protecting  himself  from  interference  by  a  crew  of 
rough  cut-throats  like  himself.  I  took  this  desperate 
matter  as  a  "trial,"  played  detective,  found  the  gang, 
came  near  being  shot,  got  the  goods,  had  them  brought 
to  Port  Huron,  advertised  them  for  sale,  got  a  buyer, 
took  cash  and  notes  and  a  purchase  money  mortgage, 
foreclosed  the  mortgage,  traded  the  machine  for  a  De- 
troit suburban  lot,  sold  the  lot,  and  in  the  end  turned  in 
to  my  client,  less  my  fee,  nearly  the  first  purchase  price. 
Result,  I  became  attorney  for  the  Springfield  Engine 
and  Thresher  Co.,  who  later  introduced  me  to  Gaar, 
Scott  &  Co.  of  Richmond,  Ind.,  and  out  of  it  all  I  came 
to  get  work  from  at  least  a  half-dozen  thesher  concerns 
and  among  them  a  very  profitable  client,  the  Mount 
Vernon  Iron  Works.  Just  an  illustration !  Every  law- 
yer can  duplicate  it  over  and  over. 

The  rapid  rise  of  many  young  men  in  this  specialty 
is  truly  remarkable.  And  generally  they  are  not  young 
men  of  startling  ability  in  any  particular  direction. 
They  do  not  shine  especially  as  advocates.  They  are 
not  as  a  rule  of  the  class  termed  trial  lawyers.  They 
have  no  great  talent  as  counselors.  But  they  are  en- 
dowed with  that  something  or  those  some  things  that 
go  to  make  a  business  man's  lawyer — they  are  business 
men  with  legal  training,  or  lawyers  with  business  in- 
stinct— put  it  whichever  way  you  please. 

As  to  the  opportunities  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer 
to  make  money  on  the  side  I  need  not  dwell.  There  is 
at  least  one  millionaire,  perhaps  several  in  Detroit  who, 
when  I  was  a  young  practitioner  there,  were  among  the 
live  young  Commercial  Lawyers  of  the  town.  The  au- 
tomobile was  born.  Lawyers  were  in  at  the  feeble  be- 
ginnings.    Some  had  to  take  stock  for  fees.    That  stock 


AND    HIS    WORK  25 

has  produced  in  some  cases  fabulous  wealth.  The  be- 
ginning of  many  great  things  in  a  business  way  have 
been  small.  The  pioneers  were  men  of  small  means. 
The  young  lawyers  came  in  naturally  for  employment 
for  they  were  not  avaricious  and  were  not  over  particu- 
lar as  to  the  class  of  client  and  the  size  of  the  fee.  They 
wanted  business.  They  were  in  on  the  ground  floor. 
No  such  opportunity  comes  to  the  criminal  lawyer,  the 
divorce  lawyer,  the  real  estate  lawyer. 

I  am  in  my  position  as  secretary  of  the  C.  L.  L.  A. 
frequently  in  receipt  of  word  from  its  members  boasting 
in  a  permissable  way  of  a  big  fee  growing  out  of  their 
work.  Within  the  past  week  I  learned  of  a  fee  in  a  big 
western  city  of  $40,000,  earned  and  collected  by  a  league 
member,  and  in  the  same  week  another  member  dis- 
played in  my  office  a  check  for  $11,000  received  as  a  fee. 
Big  fees  are  not  unknown  to  the  Commercial  Lawyer. 

The  average  fee  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer  is  small. 
He  makes  his  money  on  the  storekeeper's  plan  of  "quick 
sales  and  small  profits."  He  may  work  for  months  on 
a  small  item  that  brings  him  five  dollars  (the  new  mini- 
mum commercial  fee),  or  he  may  write  a  letter  today 
and  tomorrow  enter  up  a  fee  of  a  hundred  dollars.  He 
averages  his  service  and  his  fees  and  finds  that  many 
mickles  truly  make  a  muckle. 

There  is  a  historic  case  in  Detroit  of  an  old  lawyer 
who  practically  had  but  one  case  in  his  lifetime.  He 
spent  his  whole  life  and  a  fortune  winning  it.  When 
he  won  it  he  died.  How  different  the  work  of  the  pros- 
perous Commercial  Lawyer,  who  rarely  sees  a  day  go 
by  that  his  books  do  not  show  business  settled  and  fees 
earned — sometimes  many  fees. 

There  is  no  other  specialty  that  once  it  is  mastered 
by  its  votary  is  so  steadily  productive.  The  poor  we 
have  always  with  us,  so  also  the  mercantile  claim  is 
always  with  us.  No  system  of  credits  has  ever  been 
devised  that  will  beat  the  dishonest  buyer,  the  incompe- 


26  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

tent  business  man,  the  reckless  and  venturesome  dealer, 
and  no  system  will  ever  be  devised  that  will  turn  out 
infallible  credit  men  and  check  axtravagant  selling. 
There  has  always  been  the  mercantile  claim  and  there 
always  will  be.  The  Commercial  Lawyer's  work  is 
sure.  It  may  vary  in  character  and  amount.  It  may  get 
into  the  hands  of  his  competitors  among  the  laymen. 
It  may  puzzle  him  by  its  freakish  behavior — some- 
times pushing  him  to  the  limit  to  take  care  of  it  and 
then  giving  him  a  fall  by  a  sudden  dropping  off  in  vol- 
ume and  character.  But  the  business  comes  and  rarely 
will  he  find  on  careful  comparison  from  year  to  year 
that  it  fails  to  grow  by  its  own  momentum. 

I  have  not  written  of  the  compensations  in  the  com- 
mercial practice  in  the  way  of  the  work  itself,  the  train- 
ing it  gives,  the  wide  acquaintance,  the  opportunities 
for  enlarged  usefulness.  My  only  aim  in  this  chapter  has 
been  to  show  that  its  financial  returns  are  on  the  aver- 
age high,  and  that  the  game  need  not  be  a  waiting  one. 

Do  not  be  too  much  concerned  about  compensation. 
Do  your  work  well,  regardless  of  reward.  If  you  are 
properly  paid,  it  is  well.  But  if  you  are  not,  then  do 
not  write  mean  things  of  yourself  because  your  toil  is 
not  paid  for  according  to  its  value.  The  makers  of  soap 
have  always  been  better  paid,  in  dollars  and  cents,  than 
the  makers  of  men.  Horse  trainers  are  better  paid  than 
the  instructors  of  youth.  Poetry  has  never  paid  so  well 
as  pork.  No  college  president  last  year  was  paid  so 
much  as  the  champion  prize  fighter. 

Do  not  measure  the  value  of  what  you  do  by  the 
amount  of  money  you  get  for  doing  it.  There  are  ex- 
cellencies removed  far  above  and  beyond  any  monetary 
valuations.  It  is  to  man's  highest  honor  that  while  his 
life  grows  in  highest  usefulness  it  may  decrease  in 
money-making  power.  It  is  an  unspeakable  tragedy 
that  while  a  man's  money  bags  increase  his  manhood 
may  decrease. 


AND     HIS    WORK  27 

THE  DIGNITY  OF  THE  COMMERCIAL  PRACTICE 

Perhaps  no  work  of  the  lawyer,  which  in  itself  is 
honest  and  honestly  done,  may  be  said  to  be  undignified 
or  unworthy  of  him. 

Yet  there  are  grades  of  legal  work  requiring  varying 
degrees  of  legal  ability,  so  that  in  a  sense  these  grades 
vary  in  importance  and  dignity. 

Measured  by  the  results  of  his  labors  and  their  im- 
portance in  the  field  of  business,  and  considering  the 
condition  that  would  follow  the  abolition  of  the  com- 
mercial lawyer  as  a  class,  no  specialist  in  the  law  ranks 
higher  than  he. 

Considered  from  the  viewpoint  of  his  clientele,  em- 
bracing as  it  does  the  business  man  on  whom  rests  the 
prosperity  of  a  great  commercial  nation,  no  other  class 
of  lawyers  takes  precedence  to  him. 

Looked  at  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  trust  imposed 
in  him,  he  stands  pre-eminent.  In  large  measure  without 
bond  or  without  surety,  save  his  professional  honor,  he 
handles  billions  of  the  wealth  of  the  business  world  and 
with  a  fidelity  most  remarkable. 

Looked  at  from  the  viewpoint  of  his  standing  in  the 
community,  his  activity  in  all  social  and  civic  lines,  his 
more  than  average  prosperity  when  compared  with  his 
brethren  of  the  profession,  his  position  is  unapproached. 

Considered  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  cleanliness  of 
his  work,  its  freedom  from  chicanery  and  fraud,  the  al- 
most uniform  justice  of  his  cause  (and  I  am  speaking 
now  of  his  work  as  a  whole  and  of  the  commercial  lawyer 
as  a  class),  no  other  branch  of  the  law  reaches  higher 
place. 

From  the  viewpoint  of  results  achieved  by  him  for 
the  world  of  business,  the  Commercial  Lawyer's  posi- 
tion  is   exceedingly   important. 

Compared  with  the  criminal  lawyer,  the  damage  suit 
lawyer,  the  corporation  lawyer  (who  by  the  way  is 
usually  a  commercial  lawyer  specializing  a  little  finer). 


28  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

the  real  estate  lawyer,  the  divorce  lawyer,  the  patent 
lawyer,  the  trial  lawyer  so  called,  the  office  counsellor — 
none  of  these  occupy  so  wide  a  stage  and  bring  results 
so  generally  useful  to  the  world  at  large  as  does  the 
Commercial  Lawyer. 

The  taint  on  the  name,  common  in  some  quarters,  is 
due  to  ignorance  in  some  cases,  to  pique  in  others.  The 
Commercial  Lawyer  to  many  and  particularly  to  the 
debtor  class,  is  known  only  as  a  claim  collector.  This 
is  often  due  to  prejudice  and  spite  on  the  part  of  people 
who  have  been  compelled  by  the  commercial  lawyer  to 
right  a  wrong;  to  envy  often,  on  the  part,  we  are  sorry 
to  say,  of  fellow  lawyers  who  look  with  mingled  feelings 
of  wonder  and  bitterness  upon  a  young,  energetic 
lawyer  who  rises  quickly  to  prominence  in  the  commun- 
ity and  controls  its  commercial  business  and  through  it 
much  of  its  other  business.  We  have  often  heard  the 
"Commercial  Lawyer"  referred  to  sneeringly  by  his  fel- 
low as  a  "collection  lawyer."  If  analyzed  the  sneer  has 
behind  it  a  large  modicum  of  envy. 

We  all  forget  that  the  lawyer  who  compels  a  man 
to  pay  an  honest  debt,  however  small,  is  doing  nothing 
in  kind  different  from  the  lawyer  who  is  sent  abroad 
by  a  great  nation  to  collect  millions  from  a  debtor  na- 
tion. Both  are  Commercial  Lawyers.  When  the  gov- 
ernment requires  such  work  done  it  usually  chooses  men 
of  practical  experience  in  the  Commercial  Law  practice. 
Recall  the  work  in  this  line  of  Don  M.  Dickinson  of 
Michigan,  who  in  his  early  practice  was  a  Commercial 
Lawyer,  and  did  not  balk  at  collecting  small  claims  and 
when  chosen  to  collect  for  a  great  nation  from  a  great 
nation  a  huge  sum  went  direct  from  his  office  that  was 
known  as  one  of  the  great  Commercial  Law  offices  of 
Detroit. 

The  dignity  of  work,  when  not  inherently  undignified, 
is  what  we  make  it.  There  are  men  who  disgrace  the 
commercial  practice.     So  are  there  many  in  every  line — 


AND    HIS    WORK  29 

bankers,  merchants,  physicians,  dentists,  who  besmirch 
their  calling.  There  are  Commercial  Lawyers  who 
stoop  to  underhand,  disreputable,  unethical  practices, 
but  they  are  so  few  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  fix  the 
character  of  the  class. 

The  overwhelming  majority  of  the  more  than  20,000 
commercial  lawyers  of  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  clean,  able  and  honorable  men  who  deserve  the  good 
opinion  and  patronage  of  the  business  public. 

Words,  oral  or  in  print,  condemning  the  bankruptcy 
lawyer,  for  instance,  when  intended  to  reflect  on  lawyers 
as  a  class  are  born  of  ignorance  or  spite  or  both.  And 
there  is  much  of  this. 

Our  observation  of  Commercial  Lawyers  as  a  class, 
extending  over  thirty  years  of  wide  and  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  them,  is  that  they  are  men  of  good 
business  and  personal  habits,  well  educated  by  travel, 
study  and  close  contact  with  men  of  affairs,  alert  and 
prosperous,  and  honorable  and  straightforward  in  their 
dealings. 

We  refuse  to  conclude  that  because  here  and  there 
one  goes  wrong  the  whole  class  is  untrustworthy,  any 
more  than  we  conclude  from  the  defalcations  of  one 
banker  that  every  other  banker  is  a  rascal  and  a  subject 
of  just  suspicion. 

When  we  come  to  talk  or  write  about  lawyers,  as 
about  other  folks,  we  are  too  much  inclined  to  general- 
ize. We  are  apt  to  think  ill  of  the  man  whose  position 
is  opposed  to  our  own  on  a  matter  of  either  public  or 
private  interest.  There  are  bad  men  who  are  lawyers. 
But,  in  these  days,  if  you'll  scratch  these  fellows 
you  will  find  that  they  are  rather  business  men 
than  lawyers.  Lawyers  are,  unfortunately,  held  in 
disesteem  mostly  because  they  are  for  the  other 
fellow  against  us.  We  don't  get  mad  at  our  own  lawyer, 
except  when  he  loses  our  case,  and  then,  like  as  not, 
we  condemn  him  for  not  having  turned  some  trick  of  the 


30  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

trade  in  our  behalf  that  we  would  condemn,  if  done  for 
another.  I  do  not  believe  in  miscellaneous  denunciation 
of  any  profession,  class  or  creed.  I  am  convinced  that 
the  lawyer,  taking  him  by  himself  and  at  large,  will 
average  up  with  the  rest  of  us.  There  are  few  of  us 
black,  fewer  snow  white;  most  of  us  are  a  rather  dull 
gray. 

The  lawyer  is  good  and  bad,  like  the  rest  of  man- 
kind. We  don't  remember  what  he  does  for  the  poor 
and  weak,  when  we  are  hammering  him  for  what  he  does 
for  the  rich  and  strong.  He  makes  many  a  long  hard 
fight  for  no  fee  at  all,  and  he  fights  as  hard  for  nothing 
as  he  does  for  a  fancy  fee.  We  forget  what  the  lawyer 
does  for  rights  when  we  think  of  what  he  does  for  pri- 
vilege. The  best  off-hand  thing  I  can  think  of  to  say 
concerning  the  lawyer  is  that  he  must  be  pretty  fine  and 
good  in  the  main,  by  token  of  what  a  despicable  creature 
he  can  become  when  he  falls  from  grace.  I  don't  think 
that,  upon  the  whole,  the  legal  profession  is  more  de- 
based by  contemporary  commercialism  than  is  any  other 
profession.  ■  v 

I  have  noticed  that  the  judicial  ermine  falls  on  the 
shoulders  oftener  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer  than  it 
does  on  the  shoulders  of  lawyers  of  any  other  class. 

I  have  noticed  that  political  preferment  is  his  nat- 
ural heritage.  The  National  Congress  and  State  Legis- 
latures are  alive  with  men  from  the  Commercial  Law 
field.  Lawyers  from  other  branches  of  the  practice  are 
comparatively  few  in  number.  As  I  write.  Will.  H. 
Hays,  a  Commercial  Lawyer,  member  of  the  Commer- 
cial Law  League  of  America,  has  been  chosen  chairman 
of  the  Republican  National  Committee. 

In  choosing  judges  and  legislators,  it  is  not  usual 
to  go  to  a  class  lacking  in  dignity  of  station.  The  recog- 
nition of  the  essential  dignity  and  importance  of  the 
Commercial  Lawyer's  worth  is  here  bestowed  uncon- 
sciously and  ofttimes  by  the  very  men  who  under  other 


AND     HIS    WORK  31 

circumstances  and  conditions  characterize  him  by  epi- 
thets far  from  complimentary. 

The  ancient  origin,  the  history  and  progress  of 
Commercial  Law,  as  it  has  developed  with  the  growth 
of  the  world's  commerce,  itself  dignifies  the  lawyer 
who  practices  this  branch. 

The  lives  and  work  of  the  great  Commercial  Lawyers 
of  our  own  country  whose  words  and  deeds  are  indelibly 
engraved  in  our  constitutions,  statute  books,  and  court 
decisions  dignify  the  name. 

What  is  needed  among  Commercial  Lawyers  them- 
selves is  a  higher  estimate  of  the  dignity  of  their  call- 
ing. Catching  the  echo  of  slurs  on  this  branch  of  the 
practice,  they  have  often  come  unconsciously  to  feel 
a  suspicion  of  their  own  work,  as  not  being  worthy  of 
their  best  efforts.  We  have  often  heard  a  certain  lawyer, 
well  known  and  prosperous  during  his  life-time  and 
now  dead,  bewail  the  fact  that  while  he  had  prospered 
he  never  could  be  known  as  other  than  a  Commercial 
Lawyer,  and  many  and  devious  were  the  ways  he  sought 
to  escape  the  characterization.  Commercial  Law  had 
made  him  all  that  he  was.  It  had  given  him  money, 
standing,  influence,  friends — what  more  could  he  want? 
But  he  had  caught  the  drift  of  ignorant  comment  and 
vicious  slur  and  had  come  to  the  place  where  he  wanted 
to  kick  from  under  him  the  sturdy  and  reliable  ladder 
by  which  he  had  risen. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  has  done 
much  to  elevate  this  branch  of  the  profession  and  dig- 
nify it.  The  League  has  given  it  a  collective  voice.  It 
has  brought  individual  practitioners  together  and  given 
them  a  mutual  acquaintance  and  friendship  and  shown 
them  that  they  are  not  alone  in  the  work  but  that  they 
stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  thousands  of  good  and 
able  men. 

Hundreds  of  men  have  gone  home  from  the  national 
conventions  of  the  League  with  a  new  spirit  of  pride  in 


32  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

their  work,  new  resolves  to  improve,  new  ideas  ot 
growth  and  usefulness,  and  above  all  greater  respect 
for  their  calling  and  for  themselves  as  its  exponents 
and  representatives. 

As  a  further  evidence  of  the  inherent  dignity  of  the 
commercial  practice  I  would  call  attention  to  the  names 
of  the  men  prominent  in  Bar  Associations  throughout 
the  country.  It  will  be  found  that  in  most  states  of- 
ficers and  committees  are  chosen  largely  from  the  Com- 
mercial Lawyer  class — an  unintentional  testimonial  to 
the  character  of  the  men  who  practice  this  specialty. 

Commercial  Lawyers  may  maintain  the  dignity  of 
their  calling  by  dignified  deportment  in  their  intercourse 
with  clients  and  with  the  public;  by  defending  the  good 
name  of  their  specialty  when  it  is  assailed;  by  recogniz- 
ing openly  that  it  is  never  undignified  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  an  honest  creditor,  however  great  or  however 
small  his  demands. 

In  closing  this  chapter  I  quote  the  late  Mr.  E.  T. 
Florance,  a  prominent  Commercial  Lawyer  of  New  Or- 
leans, who  writes  regarding  the  dignity  of  the  practice 
of  Commercial  Law  as  follows : 

"The  test  of  dignity  is  the  excellence  and  fidelity  of  service. 
The  degree  of  dignity  is  to  some  extent  measured  by  the  impor- 
tance of  a  service,  and  the  importance  of  a  service  must  be  judged 
by  the  number  of  those  who  are  affected  by  it,  by  the  rights  en- 
forced and  the  wrongs  remedied  in  regard  to  them;  for  in  the  last 
analysis  all  beneficial  services  either  enforce  rights  or  redress  in- 
juries. Every  beneficent  human  action  must  fall  under  one  of 
these  two  categories.  As  the  profession  of  law  has  two  purposes 
in  view,  the  branch  of  that  profession  which  in  the  largest  num- 
ber of  instances  and  to  the  largest  number  of  persons  renders 
those  two  services,  should  be  considered  upon  the  test  of  dignity 
given  the  most  dignified  branch  of  the  practice  of  law. 

"What  is  Commercial  Law? 

"Of  course,  if  under  this  title  is  meant  merely  the  collecting 
of  money  from  more  or  less  bad  debtors,  in  the  work  performed 
by  the  ordinary  collector  who  goes  his  rounds  and  by  persevering 
dunning  collects  money  in  driblets,  there  would  be  apparently 
little  dignity;  because  there  would  be  required  very  httle  skill 
in  even  the  best  performance  of  this  service.  But  this  collecting 
of  bad  debst  is  not  the  practice  of  commercial  law,  although  to 
the  general  practice  of  every  lawyer,  whether  a  corporation  law- 
yer, an  admiralty  specialist,  a  patent  expert,  or  one  who  handles 


AND    HIS  WORK  33 

real  estate  matters  alone,  the  duty  of  collecting  'bad  debts'  is  a 
necessary  incident.  Of  course,  it  makes  no  difference  in  principle 
whether  the  'bad  debt'  is  a  mortgage  on  an  entire  railway  system 
or  whether  it  is  a  note  for  a  few  dollars;  just  as  there  is  no  dif- 
ference in  principle  between  the  enforcement  of  some  contract 
where  the  amount  involved  is  in  the  millions,  or  the  enforcement 
of  a  contract  for  the  purchase  of  some  articles  for  a  few  dollars. 
In  each  case  the  lawyer  is  'collecting  a  bad  debt.' 

"The  real  'Commercial  Lawyer,'  however,  is  one  who  special- 
izes in  matters  in  which  the  principles  of  the  Law  Merchant, 
whether  established  by  common  law  or  statutory  or  civil  law, 
are  involved.  The  business  handled  by  the  commercial  lawyer 
concerns  itself  with  every  detail  of  daily  life,  and  is  of  infinite 
importance,  not  only  to  the  wealthy  creditor,  but  to  the  poor 
debtor,  and  not  infrequently  to  the  poor  creditor  and  the  wealthy 
debtor.  It  is  that  branch  of  law  which  often  has  to  protect  the 
ignorant  from  deception  sought  to  be  practiced,  and  the  honest 
from  the  fraud  by  which  obligations  have  been  imposed,  or 
through  which  obligations  are  attempted  to  be  evaded.  There 
is  no  branch  of  the  practice  of  law  which  requires  a  wider  do- 
main of  knowledge  than  that  necessary  to  the  commercial  lawyer. 
There  is  no  principle  in  any  branch  of  law,  whether  admiralty,  or 
patent,  or  criminal,  or  corporation,  or  probate,  or  real  estate,  that 
is  not  constantly  needed  to  be  enforced  by  the  commercial  law- 
yer. The  questions  involved  come  in  such  form  that  it  is  impos- 
sible for  the  commercial  lawyer  to  do  other  than  depend  upon  his 
own  general  knowledge  of  law.  He  cannot  each  time  that  a 
question  arises  in  some  special  department  of  the  legal  system 
enlist  the  assistance  of  the  specialist.  He  must  be  ready  to  act 
in  any  case,  and  take  into  consideration  the  ultimate  conse- 
quences of  the  advice  given  or  the  action  taken  by  him.  An 
attempt  to  force  the  collection  of  a  small  promissory  note  may,  if 
the  lawyer  be  not  a  criminal  lawyer,  land  his  client  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. The  collection  of  such  note  may  involve  legal  ques- 
tins  concerning  the  incorporation  statutes  of  another  state,  or  the 
law  of  probate  of  a  foreign  country.  There  may  have  to  be  de- 
cided the  constitutionality  of  a  statute  of  a  sister  state,  or  the 
public  policy  of  the  state  of  the  forum.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  any  question  of  law  that  may  not  arise  within  the  reg- 
ular practice  of  the  commercial  lawyer.  The  writer  has  had  to 
take  under  consideration  the  validity  of  the  equivalent  of  at- 
tachment proceedings  in  one  of  the  Latin-American  Republics; 
the  regularity  of  probate  proceedings  in  Ireland;  the  sufficiency 
of  proceedings  leading  to  judgment  in  Canada;  the  revision  of 
court  proceedings  in  the  Isle  of  Malta;  the  law  of  inheritance  of 
France  and  of  many  different  states  of  the  Union;  the  law  of 
copyright  in  France  as  affected  by  treaties  whose  constitution- 
ality was  at  issue;  all  of  this  incidental  to  his  practice  as  a  com- 
mercial lawyer.  It  goes  without  saying  that  the  Bankruptcy 
Statute,  and  prior  to  that,  the  Insolvency  Statutes  of  all  the 
states  of  the  Union,  were  necessary  tools  in  the  practice  of  'Com- 
mercial   Law." 

"And  all  of  these  questions  enter  into  the  daily  life  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands,  or  rather,  of  millions  of  people  in  this  coun- 
try, and  are  being  handled  for  the  highest  purposes  and  for  the 
benefit  of  the  humblest  citizens  by  the  commercial  lawyer. 


34  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

"It  is  mainly  the  commercial  lawyer  who  is  working  out  the 
legislation  that  will  reduce,  as  far  as  possible,  the  differences  in 
the  laws  of  the  states  of  this  Union  on  matters  wherein  the 
daily  enforcement  of  commercial  law  is  affected.  It  is  greatly 
due  to  the  efforts  of  the  commercial  lawyer  that  the  Uniform 
Statutes  on  Warehouse  Receipts,  Bills  and  Notes,  and  Bills-of- 
Lading  have  been  enacted,  and  that  the  statutes  which  now  so 
closely  resemble  each  other  in  the  several  states  of  the  Union  on 
the  subject  of  fraudulent  sales  have  become  laws. 

"Surely,  then,  when  we  consider  the  vast  number  of  persons 
whose  welfare  is  directly  affected,  the  importance  and  variety 
of  the  numerous  questions  of  law  that  have  to  be  investigated 
and  principles  of  law  that  must  be  applied  by  the  commercial 
lawyer,  we  must  pronounce  his  labors  as  being  most  arduous  and 
far-reaching;  and  when  we  contemplate  the  ability  and  industry 
and  fidelity  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  devolving  upon  him 
by  practice  in  this  branch  of  the  profession,  we  can  assert,  with- 
out fear  of  successful  dispute,  that  no  department  of  the  prac- 
tice of  law  is  nobler  or  of  a  greater  dignity  than  that  of  'Com- 
mercial Law.'  " 

PREPARATION  FOR  THE  PRACTICE. 

A  proper  preparation  for  the  practice  of  Commercial 
Laws  means  not  only  a  preparation  in  the  knowledge 
and  practice  of  law  but  a  preparation  in  the  knowledge 
and   practice  of  business. 

We  need  hardly  say,  in  view  of  our  statement  that 
Commercial  Law  is  the  broadest  speciality  in  the  field 
of  law,  that  the  legal  preparation  must  be  unusually  far- 
reaching  and  thorough. 

Those  who  conceive  of  the  practice  as  being  merely 
the  collecting  of  delinquent  claims  or  the  adjustment  of 
disputes  in  mercantile  matters,  will  of  course  disagree 
with  us.  But  we  are  talking  of  the  real  lawyer  who 
embraces  within  his  practice  the  entire  round  of  Com- 
mercial Law  activity,  and  is  just  as  liable  and  as  able 
to  go  to  the  Federal  Supreme  Court  on  a  point  of  law  as 
he  is  to  handle  a  ten  dollar  claim  for  the  corner  grocery, 
by  the  dunning  process. 

One  result  of  the  overlapping  of  the  lawyers'  and 
the  laymen's  work  in  this  field  is  the  idea  some  have 
that  any  one  can  be  a  Commercial  Lawyer.  It  is  the 
popular  misconception  of  his  work  that  leads  to  an  un- 


AND    HIS  WORK  35 

derestimate   of   the    Commercial    Lawyer's   professional 
ability. 

If  the  Commercial  Lawyer  is  ever  to  get  away  from 
the  slur  put  upon  him  by  reason  of  his  doing  in  some 
measure  a  layman's  work  it  must  be  by  his  showing  in 
all  things  that  he  is  a  lawyer  prepared  to  do  a  lawyer's 
work.  But  the  preparation  most  needed  by  Com- 
mercial Lawyers  as  a  class,  if  they  are  to  successfully 
meet  lay  competition  in  this  field,  is  a  business  prepara- 
tion, if  we  may  so  term  it. 

We  are  told  by  those  who  excuse  the  fact  that  lay 
agencies,  bureaus,  and  particularly  adjustment  compan- 
ies are  springing  up  everywhere  to  take  the  commercial 
business  from  the  lawyer,  that  the  reason  may  be  found 
in  that  laymen  do  the  work  better  than  lawyers  do  it. 
Laymen,  they  say,  apply  business  methods;  lawyers  do 
not.  Lawyers  are  said  to  be  poor  business  men  and 
more  interested  in  the  legal  aspect  of  a  case  and  the 
consequent  fee  than  they  are  in  the  getting  of  results 
by  direct  business  methods. 

The  National  Association  of  Credit-Men,  while  not 
exactly  sponsors  for  the  many  adjustment  bureaus  af- 
filiated with  their  local  associations,  which  in  some  parts 
of  the  country  are  monopolizing  the  business  to  the 
great  detriment  of  the  lawyer,  tells  us  that  the  reason 
for  the  existence  of  these  bureaus  is  the  better  service 
the  credit  men  get  from  them,  and  that  if  the  lawyers 
of  the  country  had  done  as  good  service  there  never 
would  have  arisen  a  demand  for  such  agencies. 

There  may  be  some  truth  in  this,  but  it  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  some  of  their  most  successful  adjust- 
ment bureaus  are  managed  by  Commercial  Lawyers,  and 
where  not  actually  managed  are  actually  controlled  by 
Commercial  Lawyers. 

There  is  a  basis  for  the  complaint  that  the  Commer- 
cial Lawyer  often  fails  to  use  that  tact,  judgment,  dis- 
cretion,  system,  promptness  and  punch  that  character- 


36  THE   COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

izes  keen  business  men.  When  lawyers  of  poor  business 
ability  have  come  into  competition  with  wide-awake 
business  men  they  have  lost  out. 

When  a  lawyer  tells  me  that  in  his  territory  a  cer- 
tain lay  agency  has  coralled  all  the  business,  I  am 
prone  to  ask  why,  and  the  answer  is  plain  that  the  lay 
agency  must  be  giving  something  more  or  better  than 
the  lawyer  did,  and  it  is  only  the  old  rule  of  the  survival 
of  the   fittest. 

The  remedy  for  a  change  of  conditions  must  be  more 
businesslike  methods  on  the  part  of  the  profession  in 
handling  mercantile  matters,  particularly  such  matters 
as  may  be  as  well  handled  by  laymen. 

I  am  not  entirely  satisfied  that  the  critic,  in 
comparing  the  work  of  lay  adjusters  with  that  of  local 
lawyers,  is  entirely  fair  with  the  latter.  If  the  local 
lawyer  were  given  the  fees  and  the  leaway  the  adjuster 
is  given  in  particular  cases,  results  might  be  different. 
Once  give  the  lawyer  a  per  diem  and  expenses,  such  as 
is  allowed  traveling  adjusters  and  like  leaway  as  to 
terms  of  settlement,  and  there  w^ould  be  a  different  story. 
Then,  too,  the  lay  adjuster  is  usually  favored  with  live 
claims,  while  such  claims  are  seldom  sent  to  lawyers, 
for  the  reason  that  with  this  class  of  claims  it  is  desir- 
able to  collect  the  money  and  at  the  same  time  keep  the 
client — something  hard  to  do,  if  the  debtor  finds  a  law- 
yer  is   against   him. 

The  adjuster  has  many  other  advantages  over  the 
lawyer,  of  which  I  will  treat  later. 

The  preparation  advisable  on  the  part  of  the  man 
entering  the  practice  of  Commercial  Law  requires,  then, 
that  he  come  to  learn  the  business  requirements,  the 
business  ideas  and  business  methods  of  business  men. 
This  aside  from  a  legal  education. 

The  Commercial  Lawyer  should  know  much  about 
bookkeeping.  Ofttimes  he  must  delve  deeply  into  in- 
tricate and  involved  transactions  where  the   subtilities 


AND    HIS  WORK  3^ 

of  the  most  complex  and  the  crudities  of  the  most  ill- 
devised  system  must  be  solved. 

He  should  know  something  of  the  customs  of  trade 
in  its  hundreds  of  branches.  Take  the  one  sort  of  col- 
lection, either  with  or  without  suit,  that  arises  in  the 
produce  business,  where  demands  are  made  for  settle- 
ment on  car  load  lots  of  perishable  merchandise.  We 
are  told  by  the  counsel  for  the  leading  agency  handling 
this  class  of  claims  that  a  very  small  percentage  of  Com- 
mercial Lawyers  handle  such  claims  successfully,  from 
their  ignorance  of  conditions  and  customs,  and  that  the 
home  office  of  the  agency  is  kept  busy  helping  its 
correspondents,  not  so  much  because  of  their  failure  to 
know  the  law  as  their  failure  to  grasp  the  business 
aspect  of  it  all. 

The  Commercial  Lawyer  must  be  prepared  to  use 
a  business  man's  methods  in  his  work  and  his  cor- 
respondence, as  the  business  man  fails  to  see  why  the 
moment  a  matter  passes  out  of  the  hands  of  a  layman 
into  the  hands  of  a  lawyer  any  difiference  in  the  re- 
quirement as  to  promptness,  courtesy,  thoroughness  of 
treatment  should  prevail. 

Should  a  business  house  entrust  its  traveling  sales- 
man with  a  commission  to  sell  a  certain  merchant  and 
the  salesman  after  a  visit  should  return  the  commission, 
writing  over  the  face  of  it  "N.  G.,"  the  house  would  lose 
no  time  in  calling  the  salesman  to  account.  The  sales- 
man is  required  to  make  definite  and  detailed  reports 
of  his  stewardship.  This  same  house  receiving  an  ac- 
count from  a  Commercial  Lawyer  which  the  latter  has 
been  asked  to  collect  and,  finding  written  across  its  face 
"N.  G.,"  can  not  well  call  the  lawyer,  but  it  can  drop 
him ;  and  this  usually  happens. 

Business  men  nowadays  are  prompt  correspondents. 
They  have  learned  that  promptness  in  business  matters 
pays.  Delays  mean  change  in  prices,  loss  of  orders,  loss 
of  interest  or  discounts,  lack  of  confidence.  They  pay  out 


38  THE   COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

big  money  for  expensive  sales  forces.  Delay  in  attend- 
ing to  business  and  backing  up  these  forces,  works 
havoc.  Every  department  in  a  business  w^atches  every 
other  department  as  its  success  is  measured  partly  by 
w^hat  the  others  do.  The  credit  department  checks  up 
the  sales  department  and  the  collection  department.  The 
sales  department  is  vitally  interested  in  the  credit  and 
collection  department.  The  sales  and  buying  depart- 
ments are  inter-dependent.  Laxity  anywhere  is  felt 
everywhere.  The  business  man  comes  therefore  to  be  a 
stickler  for  promptness.  He  asks  it  and  expects  it  and 
can  see  no  reason  why  the  mere  fact  that  a  man  is  a 
lawyer  should  excuse  him  from  possessing  this  virtue. 

In  a  very  important  sense  the  lawyer  is  the  employee 
of  the  client  and  so  long  as  the  employment  continues 
the  employer  has  the  right  to  the  employe's  prompt  and 
thorough  service  whether  it  be  to  bring  a  law  suit  or 
report   on   a   worthless   claim. 

An  important  item  of  the  commercial  lawyer's  pre- 
paration must  be  an  understanding  of  an  efficient  office 
system  without  which  there  can  be  only  poor  results. 
The  idea  that  any  lawyer  may  take  up  and  succeed  with 
commercial  work  is  erroneous.  Only  a  small  proportion 
of  lawyers  can  do  it  and  the  reason  lies  in  that  most 
lawyers  are  lawyers  only.  Business  systems,  short  cuts, 
efficiency  methods,  are  totally  foreign  to  them. 

There  is  a  well  defined  type  of  man  who  lacks  sys- 
tem in  everything.  His  pockets,  his  desk,  his  head, 
are  in  hopeless  confusion.  This  sort  of  man  can  never 
be  successful  as  a   Commercial  Lawyer. 

There  is  another  type  that  are  students,  philosoph- 
ers, dreamers.  These  can  never  practice  commercial  law. 

Another  type  is  more  nearly  the  politician  than  the 
lawyer.  No  matter  what  his  preparation,  this  type  can 
never  practice  commercial  law  to  his  own  or  anyone 
else's  satisfaction. 

Another  class  lacks  tact  or  force  or  punch.  They  are 


AND    HIS  WORK  39 

easy,  gullible,  weak.  They  are  nice  men  and  good  law- 
yers as  counsel  or  in  a  friendly  debate;  but  they  can  not 
succeed  in  the  roped  arena  where  business  combats  re- 
quire often  the  sturdiest  courage  and  the  quickest  wit. 

Lazy,  procrastinating,  rainbow-chasing,  timid  men 
never  succeed  in  this  practice. 

A  lawyer  with  a  dishonest  streak  in  him  should  shun 
this  field  of  effort  as  he  would  poison  in  his  food.  Its 
temptations  are  of  hourly  occurrence  and  the  chances  of 
escape  from  punishment,  alas,  too  many. 

A  lawyer  possessed  of  a  feeling  that  only  com- 
mercial litigation  of  the  highest  type  is  worthy  of  him 
should  not  assume  the  name  of  Commercial  Lawyer. 
If  sworn  by  the  State  to  defend  the  injured,  to  espouse 
the  right  against  the  wrong,  he  is  willing  to  pick  and 
choose  when  he  shall  do  his  duty  and  when  not,  he 
has  not  met  the  true  ideal  of  a  lawyer. 

A  lawyer  so  tenderly  regardful  of  the  feelings  and 
pocketbooks  of  his  fellow-townsman  as  to  have  a  luke- 
warm interest  in  matters  against  them  in  behalf  of  non- 
resident clients  must  not  hold  himself  out  to  the  world 
at  large  as  a  Commercial  Lawyer.  He  can  win  neither 
at  home  nor  abroad  by  an  effort  to  carry  water  on  both 
shoulders.  Better  refuse  all  business  from  non-residents 
against  residents  than  to  accept  it  and  give  it  scant  at- 
tention. Thousands  of  Commercial  Lawyers  have  proven 
that  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  easy,  to  handle  large  non- 
resident business  and  still  retain  the  good  will,  the  re- 
spect and  even  the  patronage  of  one's  fellow  citizens. 

A  very  important  element  in  preparation  is  the  cul- 
tivation of  a  respect  for  the  work  in  all  its  grades,  from 
the  attempt  to  realize  on  a  desperate  claim,  small  in 
amount  and  of  long  standing,  to  the  attempt  to  square 
a  case  in  court  with  the  law  and  the  decisions,  when  the 
client  is  a  Standard  Oil  Company,  the  defendant  a  rail- 
road, and  the  tribunal  a  Supreme  Court. 


40  THE   COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

A  lawyer's  notion  that  he  will  take  up  commercial 
law  as  a  make-shift,  as  a  means  to  an  end,  and  that  end 
a  different  practice  in  kind,  or  as  a  quick  way  to  earn  a 
living  will  not  make  of  himself  a  high-toned  lawyer  of 
any  sort.  The  Law  is  a  jealous  mistress.  It  is  true  of 
Commercial  Law  as  a  specialty. 

It  is  frequently  said  that  once  a  Commercial  Lawyer, 
always  one.  It  is  a  kind  of  practice  that  breeds  itself 
and  as  a  rule  rapidly,  so  that  once  a  man  is  launched  in 
it  he  seldom  reaches  any  other  port  than  the  commercial 
port.  Better  start  out  honest  with  yourself,  saying,  I 
am  deliberately  choosing  a  commercial  practice.  I  will 
make  my  name  and  fame  there  and  in  doing  so  I  will 
write  my  name  among  the  greatest  lawyers  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Bar. 

A  discourteous,  ill-tempered,  bombastic,  stickler-for- 
his-own-rights  sort  of  man  will  have  trouble  in  the  prac- 
tice of  this  specialty.  There  is  no  group  of  professional 
men  in  any  line  that  must  meet  so  many  men  under  so 
many  varying  conditions.  To  do  this  with  an  even  tem- 
per, quiet,  but  determined — where  needful, — air,  a  gen- 
tlemanly demeanor,  whether  with  the  client  or  others, 
is  to  win.  No  just  cause  was  ever  helped  by  bluster. 
A  million  just  causes  have  been  spoiled  by  it.  The  ef- 
fort of  the  prize-fighter  is  to  anger  his  opponent,  for  then 
he  has  him  whipped.  Let  go  your  indignation  at  any 
and  every  seeming  injustice  and  you  lose  not  only  half 
your  fighting  strength  but  the  good  opinions  of  those 
who  witness  your  behavior.  The  secret  of  the  success 
of  many  a  commercial  lawyer  in  getting  and  keeping 
clients  is  uniform  courtesy  of  manner  and  speech 
(oral  and  written)  ;  and  much  of  his  ability  to  produce 
results  is  due  to  the  same  quality.  The  best  place  to 
prepare  for  the  practice  of  Commercial  Law  is  in  a  Com- 
mercial Law  ofKce  where  every  hour  of  the  day  you  are 
in  school,  either  learning  or  not  learning  (according  to 
the  sort  of  pupil  you  are)  promptness,  system,  efficiency. 


AND    HIS  WORK  41 

courtesy,  evenness  of  temper,  and  all  the  things  needed 
to  the  making  of  a  Commercial  Lawyer  dealing  with  an 
exacting  business  world. 

But  not  all  offices  are  models.  Care  should  be  taken 
to  get  into  an  office  where  business  is  business.  The 
writer  recalls  that  one  stormy  day  he  closed  his  office- 
door  (knowing  quite  well  that  no  one  of  his  few  clients 
wanted  him  badly  enough  to  brave  a  storm)  and  with 
another  young  lawyer  began  a  game  of  cards.  The 
senior  partner  happened  in  and  pulled  the  outfit.  Cards 
we  were  told  might  be  right  in  their  place  but  a  law 
office  was  not  the  place.  This  same  senior  partner  often 
spent  hours  over  his  newspaper  in  his  office.  There  came 
a  time  when  it  came  convenient  for  someone  to  say 
newspapers  are  all  right  in  their  place  but  not  in  a  law- 
office.  The  writer  has  never  been  able  to  read  a  news- 
paper in  his  office  during  office  hours  without  a  qualm. 

We  are  apt  to  believe  that  what  our  elders  do  we 
may  do.  We  readily  fall  therefore  into  their  bad  habits 
and  perpetuate  them.  Readily,  I  say,  because  it  is  eas- 
ier to  follow  the  bad  than  the  good.  It  is  easier  to 
mimic  the  man  who  loses  his  temper  than  the  one  who 
keeps  it.  It  takes  something  of  a  genius  to  sift  the  good 
from  the  bad  in  our  surroundings  but  in  learning  to  con- 
duct a  commercial  law  office  we  must  do  this  very  thing. 

We  never  yet  saw  an  office  that  had  not  its  short- 
comings. A  valuable  exercise  with  the  learner,  be  he 
office-boy,  stenographer,  chief-clerk  or  junior  partner, 
is  to  study  methods  used  with  a  view  to  economy  of 
time,  effort  and  money.  Ten  steps  saved  is  over  3000 
saved  in  a  year.  Five  less  motions  in  doing  a  certain 
work  is  over  1500  motions  in  a  year.  These  somebody 
pays  for.  A  dollar  uselessly  spent  every  day  in  some 
routine  is  the  interest  on  $5000.  Does  it  pay  to  study 
your  office — your  own  work,  simple  as  it  may  be,  to 
learn  where  it  may  be  more  efficient  and  profitable?  The 
question  answers  itself. 


43  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

If  one  is  so  located  that  he  must  start  out  for  him- 
self with  no  opportunities  for  observation,  his  case  pre- 
sents some  difficulties,  but  they  are  not  insurmountable. 

Every  section  of  the  country,  nearly  every  populous 
county  seats,  boasts  of  at  least  one  Commercial  Lawyer 
who  is  more  or  less  up-to-date;  some  one  who  himself 
has  traveled  and  observed  or  has  learned  from  long  ex- 
perience. A  day  or  two  spent  in  his  office  will  cost 
little  of  time  and  money  and  the  visitor  will  be  wel- 
comed. He  will  show  you  the  modus  operandi  of  a 
large  or  small  office,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  you  can 
adopt  his  system  or  modify  it  to  fit  your  needs.  There 
is  scarcely  a  day  in  Chicago  but  what  some  one  of  our 
large  commercial  law  offices  is  not  visited  by  lawyers 
from  other  points  who  are  seeking  to  learn. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  was  or- 
ganized partly  to  elevate  and  improve  the  practice  of 
Commercial  Law  and  its  members  receive  through  its 
publications  ideas  and  suggestions  that  have  been  found 
valuable  in  the  conduct  of  this  specialty.  A  word  to  the 
Secretary  of  the   League  will  bring  suggestions. 

The  American  Legal  News  published  at  Detroit, 
Mich.,  often  contains  articles  on  office  systems.  Other 
legal  preriodicals  at  intervals  publish  suggestions. 

Manufacturers  of  office  furniture  and  appliances 
gladly  send  catalogues  and  descriptive  circulars. 

A  very  necessary  thing  with  the  country  lawyer  is 
a  sincere  study  of  how  to  work  with  the  least  machinery 
and  at  the  least  expense,  for  the  commercial  business  in 
rural  communities  must  be  handled  at  the  minimum  ex- 
pense to  produce  a  profit.  In  making  this  study,  make 
free  use  of  your  own  brains,  visit  successful  offices,  con- 
nect yourself  with  the  League  which  was  organized  for 
you,  and  read ;  then  be  honest  with  whatever  system  you 
select. 


AND    HIS  WORK  43 

LOCATION   AND   ENVIRONMENT. 

Man  cannot,  properly  speaking,  make  circumstances 
fit  his  purpose,  but  he  always  has  it  in  his  power  to 
improve  them  when  they  occur. 

Necessarily  location  and  environment  determine  in 
great  measure  the  degree  of  success  one  may  reach  in 
the  practice  of  Commercial  Law% 

There  are  communities  where  the  most  capable  Com- 
mercial Lawyer,  depending  for  a  livelihood  on  commer- 
cial business,  must  fail.  The  reason  will  lie  in  his  en- 
vironment and  not  in  himself. 

A  community  without  commercial  business  cannot 
support  a  Commercial  Lawyer.  Some  communities 
furnish  some  such  business,  but  the  amount  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  justify  a  lawyer  giving  special  attention  to  it. 

It  is  in  communities  like  this  that  the  Commercial 
Lawyer  gets  a  bad  name,  for  experience  with  attorneys 
in  communities  where  there  is  little  commercial  business 
is  expensive  and  unsatisfactory,  because  these  attorneys 
are  not  accustomed  to  the  demands  of  a  commercial 
clientage  and  do  not  act  with  proper  regard  for  the 
usages  and  customs  of  the  business  of  which  they  are 
often  in  a  great  measure  ignorant. 

If  you  have  been  practicing  law  ten  years  and  haven't 
at  least  $5,000  to  show  for  it  there  is  something  wrong 
somewhere — not  necessarily  in  your  neighbor's  back 
yard,  but  in  your  own.  It  may  be  you  are  blaming  your 
environment.  Well,  your  environment  didn't  come  to 
you ;  you  came  to  it.  Your  environment  isn't  going  to 
run  away  from  you,  it  knows  only  too  well  a  good  thing. 
But  you  are  going  to  run  away  from  it — when  you  wake 
up ;  if  you  don't  wake  up  dead. 

If  I  were  to  print  the  things  written  to  me  by  some 
lawyers  regarding  the  dead  towns  they  inhabit  I  would 
need  to  use  asbestos  paper,  and  if  I  circulated  their 
statements  among  their  fellow  citizens  lynching  bees  in 


44  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

these  communities  would  be  as  frequent  as  bad  eggs  in 
August.  It  is  a  wonder  to  me  that  such  rare  powers 
of  description  abound  in  such  arid  places.  And  yet 
these  lawyers  chose  these  places  to  live  in  and  choose  to 
remain  in  them.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  run  your  town 
down  to  the  man  who  wants  to  sell  you  something  and 
another  thing  to  run  it  down  to  a  prospective  investor. 
As  long  as  these  towns  are  on  the  map  strangers  must 
be  pardoned  for  thinking  they  exist.  Why,  my  lawyer 
friend,  try  to  kill  them  deader  than  they  are?  As  long 
as  you  are  in  them,  they  can  surely  boast  of  some- 
thing alive.     Am  I  correct? 

Manifestly  a  rural  district  settled  with  well-to-do 
farmers  and  small  towns  inhabited  by  staid  citizens  who 
are  living  in  the  homes  they  were  born  in  and  carrying 
on  a  safe,  conservative  business  left  them  by  ancestors 
as  safe  and  sane  as  themselves,  is  no  field  for  the  Com- 
mercial Lawyer  who  must  live  on  the  results  of  reck- 
less credits,  adventurous  tradesmen,  shifting  commercial 
conditions  and  changing  populations. 

No  more  is  a  cemetery  a  fit  abiding  place  for  a  live 
man  than  is  a  dead  business  community  an  abiding  place 
for  a  Commercial  Lawyer. 

Usually,  it  may  be  said,  the  Bar  of  a  community  is  a 
very  good  reflection  of  the  community.  A  dead  com- 
munity shows  a  dead  Bar.  An  ignorant  community 
shows  an  ignorant  Bar.  A  careless,  indififerent,  slothful 
community  shows  the  same  sort  of  a  Bar. 

We  do  not  need  to  name  towns  or  sections.  The  in- 
telligent American  who  knows  his  country  knows  where 
intelligence  and  progress  reside,  where  ignorance  and 
slothfulness  hold  sway,  and  he  need  not  be  told  why  he 
gets  one  kind  of  service  from  the  lawyer  in  the  former 
section  and  another  from  the  lawyer  in  the  latter.  The 
lawyer  in  the  progressive  community  is  progressive  per 
force  of  his  environment;  the  lawyer  in  the  slothful  com- 
munity only  reflects  everything  about  him.     You  can't 


AND    HIS  WORK  45 

help  him  or  mend  him.  He  knows  no  other  way  and 
does  not  care  to  know  any  other. 

In  selecting"  a  location  and  environment  choose  a 
place  to  grow  in,  and  it  is  impossible  to  grow  in  dead 
soil.  Get  out  of  the  fossilized  atmosphere  of  parts  of 
New  England.  Keep  away  from  the  parts  of  the  south 
where  people  are  still  voting  for  Jackson.  Shun  towns 
and  cities  in  the  middle  west  that  have  passed  their 
meridian  and  are  waning.  Don't  be  caught  by  the  worn 
out  advice  of  Greeley,  "Go  west,  young  man."  So  many 
have  done  so  there  is  scarcely  elbow  room.  The  tide 
is  turning. 

Beware  of  the  region  that  depends  upon  a  single  in- 
dustry that  is  not  essentially  permanent  in  its  charac- 
ter; as  mining,  oil,  lumber. 

Our  mail  for  years  has  contained  frequent  letters 
from  lawyers  reading  substantially  like  this :  "I  have 
been  located  here  for  some  years  and  I  feel  I  have  got 
as  far  as  I  can.  The  town  is  dead.  The  lumber  indus- 
try that  supports  the  town  is  on  the  bum  and  there  is 
no  outlook.  My  work  of  years  goes  for  nothing.  Can 
you  suggest  a  new  location?" 

A  large  population  does  not  necessarily  mean  a  pro- 
ductive market  for  the  Commercial  Lawyer.  A  city 
composed  largely  of  mill  operatives,  or  men  employed 
at  weekly  or  monthly  wages,  with  most  of  the  business 
of  the  town  dependent  upon  the  continuous  and  suc- 
cessful operation  of  a  few  large  plants,  is  not  a  produc- 
tive field  for  the  Commercial  Lawyer. 

The  fact  that  a  town  is  well  equipped  with  law 
offices  is  no  reason  for  throwing  it  in  the  discard  as  a 
location.  The  two  questions  are :  First,  is  there  com- 
mercial business  in  the  community;  second,  is  it  being 
attended  to  properly.  Some  of  the  best  towns  in  the 
country  for  an  up-to-date  lawyer  are  amply  supplied 
with  lawyers.  There  is  a  need  there  of  the  lawyer  that 
is  not  met. 


46  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Some  time  ago  I  made  some  figures  that  may  be  of 
interest. 

According  to  statistics  before  me  at  the  time  there 
were  approximately  8,666  members  of  the  Illinois  state 
Bar,  or  an  average  of  one  lawyer  to  about  every  650 
citizens.  While  there  are  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule,  an  examination  of  the  statistics  shows  that  the 
larger  the  town  the  greater  the  proportion  of  lawyers. 
For  example :  Chicago  has  a  lawyer  to  every  446  people, 
Springfield  one  to  545,  Peoria  one  to  748,  Danville  one 
to  715,  Bloomington  one  to  715,  Rock  Island  one  to  818, 
while  Monroe  county  can  boast  of  the  fact  that  law- 
yers are  scarcer  in  that  county  than  any  other  county 
in  the  state,  there  being  but  one  lawyer  to  every  2,251 
citizens. 

The  men  who  best  know  the  places  needing  the  right 
sort  of  men  are  the  publishers  of  the  leading  law  lists — 
those  which  control  the  country's  business  and  know 
through  the  complaints  of  their  subscribers  and  the  ob- 
servation of  their  traveling  representatives,  just  what 
the  conditions  are.  These  publishers  on  inquiry  are 
glad  to  direct  capable  men  to  such  openings  and  help 
them  get  a  start. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  organization  of  law  list 
publishers,  known  as  the  "List  Conference,"  elsewhere 
referred  to  in  these  pages,  will  adopt  some  "clearing 
office"  scheme  of  pooling  their  individual  experiences 
and  be  able  through  a  central  office  or  some  one  indi- 
vidual (as  for  instance  the  secretary  of  the  C.  L.  L.  A.) 
to  give  to  an  inquirer  the  knowledge  and  experience 
of  all  the  best  publishers.  Such  a  scheme  would  re- 
dound speedily  to  the  benefit  of  lawyer,  law  list,  cli- 
ent and  everybody  concerned. 

The  question  of  Town  versus  Country  I  will  leave 

to  the  debating  societies,  but  a  few  words  I  want  to  say : 

In  some  respects  I  envy  the  country  lawyer.     He  is 

ex-officio  an  aristocrat  among  his  fellows.     A  very  lit- 


AND    HIS  WORK  47 

tie  show  of  knowledge  and  skill  over  his  dozen  or  more 
competitors  renders  him  a  poobah.  His  successes  are 
quickly  know  to  the  entire  community.  One  effort 
sligthly  above  the  average  and  he  is  discussed  on  every 
street  corner  and  every  cross-roads.  A  few  more  efforts 
out  of  the  ordinary  and  its  up  to  him  only  to  say  what 
he  wants.  The  country  communities,  in  view  of  the 
statistics,  seem  only  to  be  waiting  around  with  their 
ears  to  the  ground  to  hear  the  least  excuse  to  crown  the 
country  lawyer  with  political  honors.  Our  fathers  who 
built  the  American  system  seemed  to  have  designed 
congress  as  a  place  to  send  lawyers.  The  country  law- 
yer who  wants  to  practice  law  exclusively  has  really  a 
hard  time  of  it,  if  he  has  powers  even  slightly  above  the 
common  level  of  the  profession.  Any  morning  he  may 
wake  up  to  find  himself  in  congress  or  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  if  he  is  really  and  truly  a  phenom,  his  only 
escape  is  to  the  city,  where  they  let  him  live  a  normal 
life  to  his  heart's  content. 

When  I  note  how  easy  it  is  for  a  country  lawyer  to 
be  a  deacon  in  the  church,  attorney  for  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank,  president  of  the  Business  Men's  Club,  ora- 
tor in  chief  of  the  4th  of  July  picnic  and  owner  of  a  cow 
and  vegetable  garden  which  he  can  actually  see  and  feel, 
with  only  one  annoyance,  the  clamor  of  his  friends  to 
elect  him  to  office,  I  confess  there  is  much  in  the  dream 
to  awaken  my  enthusiasm.  And  when  I  look  around 
me  in  the  big  city  and  see  scores  of  my  brother  lawyers, 
near  failures,  a  part  of  the  thousands  that  swarm  in  the 
glare  of  the  city,  burning  their  brains  out  in  the  deathly 
heat  of  the  unequal  strife,  I  exclaim.  What  a  tragedy ! 

It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  the  big  life  is  the  strenu- 
ous one,  that  the  city  is  the  thing,  because  there  only 
lies  opportunity.  Opportunity!  Opportunity  for  what? 
Riches?  If  money  and  stocks  and  bonds  be  counted 
as  riches  I  grant  you  they  can  be  had  by  more  ways  in 
the  city  than  in  the  country,  but  for  every  one  hand 


48  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

that  feeds  them  to  you  there  are  an  hundred  to  take 
them  away. 

Honors?  Thank  Heaven  honor  has  no  abiding  place. 
And  I  am  here  to  say  that  the  laurel  wreath  hangs  as 
close  above  your  head  in  your  country  as  in  your  city. 
If  a  man  deserves  honors  they  will  soonest  come  where 
they  are  soonest  recognized,  and  that  is  where  he  him- 
self is  soonest  known. 

The  country  has  the  city  beaten  to  a  frazzle  in  all 
that  goes  to  make  for  the  real  comforts,  the  real  joys 
of  life.  There  is  lacking  in  the  former  the  exhilaration 
of  the, wheat  pit  and  stock  exchange,  the  tonic  (?)  effect 
of  all  the  all-night  cafe,  the  uplift  of  the  "white  way" 
and  just  around  the  corner  the  red  way,  the  inspiration 
from  the  myriad  cries  of  labor  in  pain,  poverty  in  appeal, 
society  in  strife,  but  it  has — ye  Gods,  what  has  it  not? 
All  the  inventions  of  labor-saving  and  comfort-making 
that  man  has  devised,  and  room  in  which  to  use  them, 
pure  air,  pure  food,  pure  water,  libraries,  men  and  wom- 
en of  decent  manners  and  culture,  time  and  room  for 
study,  opportunities  to  do  good  and  be  good,  sound 
business  in  which  to  make  money  and  sound  banks  in 
which  to  save  it,  honorable  work  to  do  and  honorable 
rewards,  healthful  amusements,  healthful  work  and  that 
cow  and  vegetable  garden. 

I  think  if  I  had  it  all  to  do  over  again  I  would  locate 
in  the  country  town,  practice  the  popular  brand  of  ora- 
tory, buy  a  grip  machine  and  cultivate  a  come-on  hand 
squeeze,  afifect  one  or  two  eccentricities  of  manner  and 
dress,  and  become  a  marked  man  in  the  community,  all 
in  the  time  it  took  me  in  the  city  to  get  my  name  in  the 
directory  and  be  recognized  by  the  policeman  on  my 
block. 

The  real  question  is,  where  is  there  business  to  be 
had?  There  are  some  country  towns  or  small  cities, 
centers  of  populous  counties  having  numerous  small 
towns,  where  a  man  may  profitably  take  up  Commercial 


AND   HIS   WORK  49 

Law,  not  as  his  whole  dependence,  but  as  a  distinct  de- 
partment of  his  employment  which  he  gives  special 
study  and  attention  and  which  he  may  justly  claim  to 
be  efficiently  organized  for  commercial  work. 

The  city,  on  the  other  hand,  is  always  a  ready  field. 
Chicago  is  a  city  with  an  army  of  lawyers,  yet  about 
six  years  ago  a  young  man  located  in  Chicago  and 
today  is  at  the  head  of  a  Commercial  Law  business 
requiring  a  force  of  nearly  a  score  of  employes,  four 
of  whom  are  lawyers.  His  office  and  equipment  cost 
enough  per  annum  to  run  more  than  a  score  of  country 
or  small  city  offices. 

The  ever-growing  population  of  the  average  Ameri- 
can city,  the  constantly  shifting  business  conditions  of 
big  centers,  makes  the  new  man  an  old  settler  in  a  very 
few  years.  The  questions  is  not  in  the  city,  who  are 
you,  where  did  you  come  from,  who  were  your  ances- 
tors, how  long  have  you  been  here;  but  what  can  you 
do,  and  how  will  you  do  it? 

There  are  two  distinct  sides  to  the  commercial  busi- 
ness— the  "Receiving"  side  and  the  "Forwarding"  side. 
The  country  Commercial  Lawyer  is  almost  wholly  a 
Receiver,  from  the  necessities  of  the  case.  There  is  no 
forwarding  business  in  the  average  small  city  and  coun- 
try town. 

Where  a  small  city  or  country  town  has  any  for- 
warding it  seldom  is  controlled  by  a  local  lawyer.  The 
wise  men  of  the  credit  and  collection  departments  of 
most  rural  businesses  of  any  magnitude  recognize  re- 
ligiously the  truth  of  the  saying,  "A  prophet  is  not  with- 
out honor  save  in  his  own  country,"  and  look  over  the 
heads  of  their  own  local  lawyers,  no  matter  how  capable 
they  are  considered  by  forwarders  elsewhere  who  em- 
ploy them,  to  give  their  business  to  a  concern  at 
a  distance,  without  an  atom  of  real  evidence  as  to 
its  responsibility  and  efficiency,  at  the  invitation 
of  traveling  solicitors  whom  they  never  heard  of,  before 


50  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

they  presented  their  scheme  and  their  contract.     Often 

as  an  evidence  of  their  (we  wrote  damned  and 

scratched  it  out  in  the  copy)  foolishness,  they  present 
these  soUcitors  with  bankable  checks. 

No  matter  how  well  the  local  Commercial  Lawyer 
in  the  small  community  may  be  equipped  to  handle  the 
forwarding  of  his  town's  one  or  several  industries,  he 
will  always  be  up  against  a  curious  freak  of  our  human 
nature,  which  is  strong  with  the  single-track  mind  of 
many  credit  men  and  bookkeepers,  which  prompts  us  to 
follow  a  showy  stranger  rather  than  a  homely  friend, 
and  pass  up  honest,  conscientious,  capable  talent  at  our 
own  door  for  engraved  prospectuses,  phoney  indorse- 
ments, golden  promises  and  smooth  voiced  men  trained 
to  get  the  goods. 

To  our  amazement  we  have  learned  repeatedly  ot 
the  inability  of  capable  Commercial  Lawyers,  responsi- 
ble and  ready  to  serve,  to  obtain  even  a  look-in  on  the 
forwarding  business  of  their  few  home  industries, 
knowing  at  the  same  time  the  sort  of  agencies  these  in- 
dustries were  employing  in  some  faraway  city. 

In  our  employment  as  secretary  of  the  C.  L.  L.  A.  we 
have  had  many  letters  from  credit  men  and  collection 
managers  of  business  houses  asking  us  to  help  them  get 
an  accounting  with  some  agency  in  Chicago  or  other 
city  to  whom,  under  a  contract  which  they  had  never 
studied  sufficiently  to  understand,  they  had  entrusted 
thousands  of  dollars  in  delinquent  accounts  without 
bond  or  security,  often  after  paying  money  in  advance 
to  finance  the  solicitors  that  bit  them.  In  nearly  every 
instance  we  have  taken  the  keenest  pleasure  in  refusing 
to  help  the  ass  out  of  the  pit,  even  though  on  a  week-day, 
and  have  called  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  their 
own  town,  often  in  their  own  block,  were  men  thorough- 
ly capable  of  handling  their  business  and  possessed  of 
the  advantage  that  when  they  were  wanted  they  were 
not  in  jail  or  dodging  it. 


AND    HIS    WORK  51 

A  good  illustration  of  the  type  of  ag-ency  that  can 
go  into  rural  towns  and  cities  and  take  the  forwarding 
business  away  from  good  local  men  is  the  Spraguc  Mer- 
cantile Agency  (we  blush  for  the  name,  though  no 
Sprague  was  connected  with  the  agency  in  its  dirty 
days).  This  agency,  with  alluring  literature  and  lying 
solicitors  not  only  got  the  forwarding  business  of 
thousands  of  business  men — the  trick  was  easy — but 
got  money  in  advance  in  every  case.  Its  career  lasted 
for  years,  marked  at  every  step  by  fraudulent  dealing, 
until  the  very  burden  of  its  iniquities  crushed  it.  Yet 
today  with  that  same  name  new  men  can  go  out  and 
repeat  the  process,  all  because  the  average  business  man 
in  doling  out  his  collection  favors  is  lacking  in  ordinary 
horse  sense.  Chicago  agencies  can  go  to  Milwaukee 
and  take  business  away  from  local  agencies  thoroughly 
as  honest  and  capable  as  those  in  Chicago.  A  Nash- 
ville agency  can  go  to  Cleveland  and  get  business  from 
under  the  noses  of  some  of  the  best  agencies  in  the 
country. 

So  that  our  advice  is,  don't  figure  on  the  forwarding 
business  of  the  country  town  or  small  city  (though  it 
may  have  such  business),  for  no  matter  how  well  every- 
body else  knows  you  are  capable  of  handling  it,  the  as- 
tute fellow  who  gives  out  this  business,  who  probably 
belongs  to  your  church  or  to  your  lodge,  knows  you 
can't.  If  you  had  the  spiel  and  the  clothes  and  the 
leather  wallet,  and  the  photographed  letters,  and  the  en- 
graved contract,  and  the  nerve  of  the  stranger  who  is 
here  today  and  away  tomorrow,  you  might,  but  you 
haven't  these.     So  "there's  an  end  on  it." 

One  of  the  greatest  services  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Credit  Men  could  do  for  its  members  and  the 
business  world  would  be  to  institute  a  campaign  against, 
first,  the  irresponsible  collection  agencies,  and,  second, 
credulous  credit  men  and  easy-mark  collection  managers 
who  keep  alive  these  frauds.     If  this  great  organization 


52  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

and  the  League  could  unite  on  a  way  of  finding  out 
who's  who  in  the  credit  men  world,  the  collection  agency- 
world  and  the  Commercial  Lawyer  world,  and  bringing 
into  lasting  fellowship  and  co-operation  the  best  ele- 
ments in  the  three,  there  would  be  millions  saved  to 
business  men,  thousands  of  men  looking  for  other  jobs, 
and  the  local  lawyer  of  the  upright  and  competent  class 
in  the  smaller  forwarding  communities  would  come 
into  his  own  through  a  just  recognition  of  his  worth  by 
his  fellow  citizens  of  the  client  class. 

This  co-operation  was  sought  in  the  organization  of 
the  C.  L.  L.  A.,  when  it  provided  in  its  constitution  for 
membership  from  both  lawyer  and  layman,  but  its  work 
was  halted  in  this  direction  by  the  organization  of  the 
credit  men  (the  N.  A.  C.  M.)  as  a  separate  organization, 
with  the  unhappy  result  that  the  two  classes  have  each 
gone  their  separate  ways  and  no  combined  action  on  any 
vital  thing  has  been  considered  or  taken. 

Locating  in  a  city  or  town  where  one  is  not  known 
presents  many  problems  to  the  lawyer  who  must  build 
a  business  speedily  or  go  hungry.  Some  of  these  are 
problems  in  ethics.  The  question  how  far  can  a  lawyer 
go  in  seeking  employment  is  an  important  one  and  a 
delicate  one.     This  will  be  considered  later. 

One  may  l^uy  a  location,  if  we  may  so  phrase  it.  In 
doing  so  the  buyer  has  some  definite  data  as  to  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  practice  at  the  point  in  question.  One 
may  also  often  get  the  management  of  the  collection 
department  of  some  well  established  firm,  by  which  he 
may  soon  learn  the  limit  of  the  locality's  possibilities. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  publishes 
a  Monthly  Bulletin,  every  number  of  which  presents 
want  or  for  sale  notices  inserted  by  members  of  the 
League,  who  for  one  reason  or  another  are  desirous  of 
disposing  of  their  business,  or  want  partners,  or  collec- 
tion department  managers.  Law  List  publishers  are  in 
touch  with  locations  where  arrangements  can  be  made 


AND    HIS    WORK  53 

by  competent  or  willing  men  to  get  a  foothold  in  the 
practice.  In  some  cases  experience  is  required,  in  oth- 
ers money,  in  still  others  nothing  more  than  honesty, 
general  capability  and  willingness.  In  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  commercial  offices  of  the  cities  the 
men  in  control  are  men  who  have  got  their  start  as  man- 
agers or  clerks  in  commercial  law  offices  other  than 
their  own. 

The  country  town  or  small  city  should  not  be  judged 
by  its  own  population  merely  in  determining  its  pros- 
pective value  as  a  field.  Some  such  places  are  centers 
of  very  wide  territory  that  is  without  a  progressive, 
capable,  forceful  Commercial  Lawyer,  and  the  law- 
yer locating  at  such  a  center,  by  proper  methods,  may 
make  a  dozen  counties  contribute  to  his  practice. 
There  are  great  sections  of  some  of  our  states,  particu- 
larly in  the  far  east,  the  south  and  the  west,  where 
groups  of  counties  are  without  adequate  representation 
in  the  roll  of  the  country's  Comercial  Lawyers.  A  man 
located  at  a  central  point  in  such  a  section  and  display- 
ing capability  and  enterprise  may  make  a  quick  name 
for  himself  in  every  forwarding  center  of  the  country. 

The  possibilities  of  the  Receiving  Lawyer  develop- 
ing a  business  covering  a  section  are  exemplified  in 
the  writer's  own  experience,  told  in  a  little  pamphlet 
published  many  years  ago,  entitled  "How  to  Build  Up 
a  Commercial  Law  Practice."  It  was  a  story  of  the 
writer's  own  first  years  in  the  practice.  Many  of  the 
things  he  did  then  he  would  not  do  now,  as  he  is  older 
and  has  a  keener  regard  for  the  proprieties,  because  of  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  ethical  rules  of  his  profession. 
In  this  pamphlet,  published  we  believe  even  today  after 
thirty  years,  by  the  American  Legal  News  of  Detroit, 
with  the  author's  name  given  as  A.  X.  Dunner,  the 
writer  shows  how  in  a  few  years  the  prompt  and  effi- 
cient handling  of  a  few  items  for  some  big  houses  led  to 
his  proposing,  and  the  proposal  being  accepted,  that  he 


54  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

be  given  the  section  of  Michigan  east  of  a  line  from  Sagi- 
naw to  Detroit  as  his  field  of  operations. 

The  overwhelming  percentage  of  country  lawyers 
get  business  covering  only  their  immediate  vicinage. 
This  must  almost  necessarily  be  so.  But  must  it,  need 
it  be  so  with  the  Commercial  Lawyer?  I  think  not. 
There  is  the  greatest  kind  of  an  opportunity  for  a  coun- 
try Commercial  Lawyer  to  widen  his  work  far  beyond 
the  limits  of  a  county  or  even  a  group  of  counties.  Once 
a  country  Commercial  Lawyer  has  established  with  a 
client  a  record  for  unusual  results  there  is  scarcely  a 
limit  to  what  he  may  expect  if  he  puts  himself  in  the 
way  of  it.  The  fact  is  that  bang-up  men  in  the  com- 
mercial law  field  are  at  a  premium — I  mean  men  of  tire- 
less energy,  bull  grit  and  unswerving  honesty.  There 
are  whole  sections  of  some  of  our  states  where  there 
are  no  such  men,  and  over  such  sections  a  bright,  keen, 
honest,  up-to-date,  hustling  Commercial  Lawyer  can 
get  a  practical  monopoly  of  certain  lines  of  business. 

Concrete  examples  go  for  much.  When  I  was  a 
young  man  and  bold  I  made  a  conspicuous  success  with 
a  claim  of  $1,200  against  two  men  who  were  trying  to 
get  away  with  a  threshing  outfit.  My  clients  were  Ohio 
manufacturers,  selling  all  through  the  state  of  Michigan. 
A  mere  suggestion  on  my  part,  after  my  lucky  strike 
with  the  claim  aforesaid,  resulted,  in  the  course  of  six 
months  or  less,  in  my  getting  every  item  of  business 
from  this  concern  that  it  had  in  Michigan  east  of  a  line 
from  Detroit  to  Saginaw,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  my 
only  labor  consisted  in  acting  as  a  middleman  between 
the  client  and  a  local  lawyer,  keeping  my  eyes  on  the 
latter  and  seeing  that  things  moved.  Only  in  rare  in- 
stances was  I  called  upon  to  leave  my  office  and  take  the 
field.  I  was  in  fact  a  general  attorney  for  that  manu- 
facturer for  all  of  eastern  Michigan.  My  fees  from  this 
client  alone  made  a  respectable  income.  And  I  would 
have  done  this  as  well  had  I  lived  in  a  country  parish  as 


AND   HIS   WORK  55 

I  did  in  Detroit.  In  those  days  I  had  snap,  and  this 
particular  client  recognized  it.  It  would  have  been  as 
readily  recognized  had  I  lived  in  Lonesomehurst. 

But  there  are  other  chapters  to  this  personal  story. 
My  experience  with  this  client  led  to  an  ambition  on 
my  part  to  cover  big  ground  for  others  so  it  was  not 
long  before  I  was  attorney  for  eastern  Michigan  of  a 
dozen  Ohio  manufacturers.  This  led  to  my  publishing 
the  Collector  (now  the  American  Legal  News)  which, 
strange  to  say,  never  was  intended  for  lawyers,  but  for 
implement  manufacturers,  for  which  class  of  clients  I 
was  largely  working.  And  "The  Collector"  later  called 
and  engineered  the  great  gathering  that  organized  the 
League.     And  there  you  have  the  sequence  of  events. 

What  I  am  trying  to  impress  is  this,  that  a  Commer- 
cial Lawyer  can  vastly  increase  his  field  of  operations  by 
the  use  of  business  tact,  business  energy,  and  such  a 
study  of  the  problem  of  how  to  do  it  as  the  merchant 
gives  to  the  work  of  enlarging  his  business. 

The  man  who  sits  down  and  whines  because  he  is 
in  a  small  town  and  excuses  himself  for  lack  of  enter- 
prise and  "go"  because  he  is  a  country  lawyer  with  no 
constituency  and  no  chance,  deserves  to  have  some 
bright  fellow  in  another  bailiwick  take  what  little  busi- 
ness he  has  away  from  him. 

I  know  the  fatal  effects  of  a  rural  atmosphere;  I 
know  the  enervating  influence  of  town  life ;  I  know  what 
it  is  to  live  in  a  village  where  on  many  a  mid-afternoon 
you  can  shoot  a  gun  down  the  whole  length  of  the  main 
street  without  danger  of  hitting  man  or  beast.  I  know 
it  takes  some  genius  to  MAKE  opportunities  in  such 
surroundings,  but  my  country  friends,  beyond  the  Alps 
lies  Italy. 

In  this  connection  I  quote  from  a  lecture  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Location  delivered  by  Charles  Friend,  Esq.,  of 
Milwaukee,  before  the  Marquette  Law  School.  Mr. 
Friend  says  in  part: 


56  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

"There  is  much  to  be  desired  in  living  and  practicing 
law  in  the  smaller  cpmmunities.  Everyone  fells  us  that 
the  man  who  seeks  the  pleasures  of  practice,  as  well  as 
the  remuneration  in  money,  should  take  up  his  residence 
in  the  smaller  districts.  The  appeal,  of  course,  can  be 
made  only  to  those  who  have  had  prior  experience  in 
living  in  the  country,  or  to  those  who  now  living  in  the 
city  have  a  well  defined  idea  of  country  life  and  the 
fancy  at  least  that  they  would  love  to  live  in  the  country. 
Naturally  the  place  where  you  live  or  seek  to  establish 
yourself,  should  be  primarily  congenial  to  you.  It  is 
your  life  that  you  are  bound  to  live,  wherever  you  may 
seek  your  residence.  If  you  are  one  who  does  appreciate 
the  openness  and  freedom  of  nature,  the  surroundings  of 
country  life,  the  leisurely  manner  in  wdiich  people  may 
conduct  their  lives  in  the  country  districts,  then  you 
may  also  be  well  assured  that  if  you  will  take  up  your 
residence  in  one  of  those  districts  you  will  always  be 
happy.  And  it  is  after  all  happiness  that  we  seek  in 
our  pursuits  of  life. 

"To  the  same  man  who  would  cast  his  lot  in  the  city, 
the  opportunities  are  not  so  entrancing  as  in  the  coun- 
try ;  for  in  the  city  you  must  at  once  begin  under  an  ar- 
tificial pressure  of  expense.  I  say  artificial  in  the  mean- 
ing that  it  is  an  exaggerated  condition  over  your  income 
for  necessities  for  living  in  comfort.  All  those  who  com- 
mence life  in  cities  have  before  them  two  alternatives ; 
the  one  to  enter  into  the  employment  of  another,  to 
make  progress  through  the  offices  that  may  be  assigned 
him,  performing  the  certain  special  duties  that  are  set 
before  him ;  or  to  begin  independently  by  that  manner 
of  establishment  which  may  appeal  to  him,  either  being 
alone  in  an  office  rented  by  himself  for  himself  or  in  as- 
sociation with  others,  either  as  an  independent  practi- 
tioner or  as  a  copartner;  but  in  some  particular  way  em- 
ploying the  telephone,  stenographers,  taking  quarters  in 
office  buildings,  whereby  he  may  reach  the  clientage  that 


AND    HIS    WORK  57 

he  seeks, — all  under  the  pressure  of  substantial  daily  ex- 
pense. 

"The  man,  who,  on  the  other  hand  seeks  his  residence 
in  the  country  has  a  far  less  expense  account  to  meet, 
and  Avhile  perchance  he  may  not  earn  fees  in  as  large  a 
measure  or  even  that  degree  of  frequency  as  in  the  city, 
he  nevertheless  has  ample  time  to  develop  any  subject 
that  comes  before  his  attention,  and  perhaps  it  is  this 
element  which  assures  the  beginners  in  the  country 
practice  a  broader  foundation  and  greater  stability  in 
the  profession. 

"The  opportunity  to  examine  with  the  greatest  care 
the  witnesses  that  may  be  called  to  the  trial,  the  oppor- 
tunity to  study  the  law  of  evidence  that  is  apt  to  come 
before  the  court  when  these  witnesses  are  presented,  the 
opportunity  to  investigate  with  care  the  details  with 
which  opponent  may  come  into  court,  are  essential  to 
success  in  trial  work.  Of  course  the  lawyer  in  the  coun- 
try has  plenty  of  time  and  opportunity  to  study  the  law, 
and  being  conversant  thoroughly  with  his  facts  has  a 
splendid  chance  to  distinguish  himself  early  in  his  pro- 
fession. And  it  takes  only  one  case  before  the  courts,  if 
he  wins,  to  put  a  man  on  his  feet  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts in  which  he  moves.  As  against  this  portrayal 
consider  the  conditions  in  the  city,  where  under  the 
pressure  of  expense  in  the  office  and  in  the  home  the 
young  lawyer  is  bound  to  hurry  over  the  preparation  of 
his  earlier  cases,  to  seek  more  business,  to  be  prepared 
to  do  further  things.  He  has  neither  the  time  to  study 
nor  is  he  apt  to  infuse  into  his  client  the  zeal  to  appeal 
the  case  because  the  lawyer  has  not  the  time  to  devote 
to  the  preparation  of  these  appeals.  Some  of  the  most 
important  litigation  carried  through  the  course  of  the 
highest  courts  has  arisen  in  the  country  practice. 

"Again,  the  lawyer  in  the  country  districts  has  the 
most  excellent  opportunity  of  meeting  at  once  the  best 
people  in  the  community.    He  is  received  into  the  circles 


58  THE   COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

of  most  influence,  socially  and  in  the  business  way.  He 
comes  into  the  community  as  a  stranger  perhaps,  and 
is  accepted  for  what  he  can  give.  If  he  interests  him- 
self in  the  questions  that  arise  and  are  current  in  his 
community,  he  becomes  a  leader.  He  directs  the  thought, 
he  formulates  the  policy,  and  contributes  materially  to 
the  upbuilding  of  that  community  in  which  he  has 
sought  to  make  his  home.  In  the  larger  cities,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  a  matter  of  remote  chance  for  a  man  to 
establish  himself  in  a  place  in  which  he  will  be  noticed. 
It  is  more  difficult  by  far  to  reach  that  circle  who  are 
doing  the  big  things  in  the  community  and  participate 
in  the  promotion  of  the  policies  of  that  community.  He 
must  bide  his  time,  he  must  wait  until  chance  comes  his 
way  before  he  can  realize  on  one  with  sufficient  force 
to  make  himself  known  or  recognized  as  a  factor." 


AND    HIS    WORK  59 

Ethics. — Ethical   Ways  that  Win. — Getting  Busi- 
ness Direct. — Clientage. 


SECTIONS  OF  THE  CODE  OF  PROFESSIONAL  ETHICS 

That  in  Any  Way  Relate  to  the  Commercial  Practice  Adopted  by 

the   American   Bar   Association   and   the    Commercial 

Law  League  of  America. 

6.  Adverse  Influences  and  Conflicting^  Interests.  It  is  the 
duty  of  a  lawyer  at  the  time  of  retainer  to  disclose  to  the  client 
all  the  circumstances  of  his  relations  to  the  parties,  and  any  in- 
terest in  or  connection  with  the  controversy,  which  might  influ- 
ence the  client  in  the  selection  of  counsel. 

It  is  unprofessional  to  represent  conflicting  interests,  except 
by  express  consent  of  all  concerned,  given  after  a  full  disclosure 
of  the  facts.  Within  the  meaning  of  this  canon,  a  lawyer  repre- 
sents conflicting  interests  when,  in  behalf  of  one  client,  it  is  his 
duty  to  contend  for  that  which  duty  to  another  client  requires 
him  to  oppose. 

The  obligation  to  represent  the  client  with  undivided  fidelity 
and  not  to  divulge  his  secrets  or  confidences  forids  also  the  subse- 
quent acceptance  of  retainers  or  employment  from  others  in  mat- 
ters adversely  affecting  any  interest  of  the  client  with  respect  to 
which  confidence  has  been  reposed. 

9.  Negotiations  With  Opposite  Party.  A  lawyer  should  not 
in  any  way  communicate  upon  the  subject  of  controversy  with  a 
party  represented  by  counsel:  much  less  should  he  undertake  to 
negotiate  or  compromise  the  matter  with  him,  but  should  deal 
only  with  his  counsel.  It  is  incumbent  upon  the  lawyer  most 
particularly  to  avoid  everything  that  may  tend  to  mislead  a  party 
not  represented  by  counsel,  and  he  should  not  undertake  to  ad- 
vise him  as  to  the  law. 

10.  Acquiring  Interest  in  Litigation.  The  lawyer  should  not 
purchase  any  interest  in  the  subject-matter  of  the  litigation  which 
he  is  conducting. 

12.  Fixing  the  Amount  of  the  Fee.  In  fixing  fees,  lawyers 
should  avoid  charges  which  overestimate  their  advice  and  serv- 
ices, as  well  as  those  which  undervalue  them.  A  client's  ability 
to  pay  cannot  justify  a  charge  in  excess  of  the  value  of  the  serv- 
ice, though  his  poverty  may  require  a  less  charge,  or  even  none 
at  all.  The  reasonable  requests  of  brother  lawyers,  and  of  their 
widows  and  orphans  without  ample  means,  should  receive  special 
and  kindly  consideration. 

In  determining  the  amount  of  the  fee,  it  is  proper  to  con- 
sider (1)  the  time  and  labor  required,  the  novelty  and  difficulty 
of  the  questions  involved  and  the  skill  requisite  properly  to  con- 
duct the  cause;  (2)  whether  the  acceptance  of  employment  in 
the  particular  case  will  preclude  the  lawyer's  appearance  for 
others  in  cases  likely  to  arise  out  of  the  transaction  and  in  which 
there  is  a  reasonable  expectation  that  otherwise  he  would  be  em- 


60  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ployed,  or  will  involve  the  loss  of  other  business  while  employed 
in  the  particular  case  or  antagonisms  with  other  clients;  (3)  the 
customary  charges  of  the  bar  for  similar  services;  (4)  the  amount 
involved  in  the  controversy  and  the  benefits  resulting  to  the  cli- 
ent for  the  services;  (5)  the  contingency  or  the  certainty  of  the 
compensation,  and  (6)  the  character  of  the  employment,  whether 
casual  or  for  an  established  and  constant  cHent.  No  one  of  these 
considerations  in  itself  is  controlling.  They  are  mere  guides  in 
ascertaining  the  real  value  of  the  service. 

In  fixing  fees  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  profession 
is  a  branch  of  the  administration  of  justice  and  not  a  mere 
money-getting  trade. 

13.  Contingent  Fees.  Contingent  fees,  where  sanctioned  by 
law,  should  be  under  the  supervision  of  the  court,  in  order  that 
clients  may  be  protected  from  unjust  charges. 

16.  Restraining  Clients  from  Improprieties.  A  lawyer  should 
use  his  best  efforts  to  restrain  and  to  prevent  his  clients  from 
doing  those  things  which  the  lawyer  hiinself  ought  not  to  do, 
particularly  with  reference  to  their  conduct  towards  courts,  judi- 
cial officers,  jurors,  witnesses  and  suitors.  If  a  client  persists  in 
such  wrongdoing  the  lawyer  should  terminate  their  relation. 

21.  Punctuality  and  Expedition.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  law- 
yer, not  only  to  his  client,  but  also  to  the  courts-  and  to  the  public, 
to  be  punctual  in  attendance  and  to  be  concise  and  direct  in  the 
trial  and  disposition  of  causes. 

27.  Advertising,  Direct  or  Indirect.  The  most  worthy  and 
effective  advertisement  possible,  even  for  a  young  lawyer,  and 
especially  with  his  brother  lawyers,  is  the  establishment  of  a 
well-merited  reputation  for  professional  capacity  and  fidelity  to 
trust.  This  cannot  be  forced,  but  must  be  the  outcome  of  char- 
acter and  conduct.  The  publication  or  circulation  of  ordinary 
simple  business  cards,  being  a  matter  of  personal  taste  or  local 
custom,  and  sometimes  of  convenience,  is  not  per  se  improper. 
But  solicitation  of  business  by  circulars  or  advertisements,  or  by 
personal  communications  or  interviews,  not  warranted  by  per- 
sonal relations,  is  unprofessional.  It  is  equally  unprofessional  to 
procure  business  by  indirection  through  touters  of  any  kind, 
whether  allied  real 'estate  firms  or  trust  companies  advertising  to 
secure  the  drawing  of  deeds  or  wills  or  offering  retainers  in  ex- 
change for  executorships  or  trusteeships  to  be  influenced  by  the 
lawyer.  Indirect  advertisement  for  business  by  furnishing  or  in- 
spiring newspaper  comments  concerning  causes  in  which  the 
lawyer  has  been  or  is  engaged  or  concerning  the  manner  of  their 
conduct,  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved,  the  importance 
of  the  lawyer's  positions,  and  all  like  self-laudation,  defy  the  tra- 
ditions and  lower  the  tone  of  our  high  calling,  and  are  intolerable. 

Stirring  Up  Litigation,  Directly  or  Through  Agents.  It 
is  unprofessional  for  a  lawyer  to  volunteer  advice  to  bring  a 
lawsuit,  except  in  rare  cases  where  ties  of  blood,  relationship  or 
trust  make  it  his  duty  to  do  so.  Stirring  up  strife  and  litigation 
is  not  only  unprofessional,  but  it  is  indictable  at  common  law. 
It  is  disreputable  to  hunt  up  defects  in  titles  or  other  causes  of 
action  and  inform  thereof  in  order  to  be  employed  to  bring  suit, 
or  to  breed  litigation  by  seeking  out  those  with  claims  for  per- 


AND    HIS    WORK  '  61 

sonal  injuries  or  those  having  any  other  grounds  of  action  in 
order  to  secure  them  as  clients,  or  to  employ  agents  or  runners 
for  like  purposes,  or  to  pay  or  reward,  directly  or  indirectly, 
those  who  bring  or  influence  the  bringing  of  such  cases  to  his 
office,  or  to  remunerate  policemen,  court  or  prison  officials,  phy- 
sicians, hospital  attaches  or  others  who  may  succeed,  under  the 
guise  of  giving  disinterested  friendly  advice,  in  influencing  the 
criminal,  the  sick  and  the  injured,  the  ignorant  or  others,  to  seek 
his  professional  services.  A  duty  to  the  public  and  to  the  pro- 
fession devolves  upon  every  member  of  the  bar,  having  knowl- 
edge of  such  practices  upon  the  part  of  th  practitioner,  immedi- 
ately to  inform  thereof  to  the  end  that  the  offender  may  be  dis- 
barred. 

29.  Upholding  the  Honor  of  the  Profession.  Lawyers  should 
expose  without  fear  or  favor  before  the  proper  tribunals  corrupt 
or  dishonest  conduct  in  the  profession,  and  should  accept  without 
hesitation  employment  against  a  member  of  the  bar  who  has 
wronged  his  client.  The  counsel  upon  the  trial  of  a  cause  in 
which  perjury  has  been  committed  owe  it  to  the  profession  and 
to  the  pubHc  to  bring  the  matter  to  the  knowledge  of  the  prose- 
cuting authorities.  The  lawyer  should  aid  in  guarding  the  bar 
against  the  admission  to  the  profession  of  candidates  unfit  or 
unquaHfied  because  deficient  in  either  moral  character  or  educa- 
tion. He  should  strive  at  all  times  to  uphold  the  honor  and  to 
maintain  the  dignity  of  the  profession  and  to  improve  not  only 
the  law,  but  the  administration  of  justice. 

30.  Justifiable  and  Unjustifiable  Litigation.  The  lawyer 
must  decline  to  conduct  a  civil  cause  or  to  make  a  defense  when 
convinced  that  it  is  intended  merely  to  harass  or  to  injure  the 
opposite  party  or  to  work  oppression  or  wrong.  But  otherwise 
it  is  his  right,  and,  having  accepted  retainer,  it  becomes  his  duty 
to  insist  upon  the  judgment  of  the  Court  as  to  the  legal  merits 
of  his  Ghent's  claim.  His  appearance  in  Court  should  be  deemed 
equivalent  to  an  assertion  on  his  honor  that  in  his  opinion  his 
client's  case  is  one  proper  for  judicial  determination. 

31.  Responsibility  for  Litigation.  No  lawyer  is  obliged  to 
act  either  as  adviser  or  advocate  for  every  person  who  may  wish 
to  become  his  client.  He  has  the  right  to  decline  employment. 
Every  lawyer  upon  his  own  responsibility  must  decide  what  busi- 
ness he  will  accept  as  counsel,  what  causes  he  will  ring  into  Court 
for  plaintiffs,  what  cases  he  will  contest  in  Court  for  defendants. 
The  responsibility  for  advising  questionable  transactions,  for 
bringing  questionable  suits,  for  urging  questionable  defenses,  is 
the  lawyer's  responsibility.  He  cannot  escape  it  by  urging  as  an 
excuse  that  he  is  only  following  his  client's  instructions. 

32.  The  Lawyer's  Duty  in  Its  Last  Analysis.  No  client,  cor- 
porate or  individual,  however  powerful,  nor  any  cause,  civil  or 
political,  however  important,  is  entitled  to  receive,  nor  should  any 
lawyer  render,  and  service  or  advice  involving  disloyalty  to  the 
law  whose  ministers  we  are,  or  disrespect  of  the  judicial  office, 
which  we  are  bound  to  uphold,  or  corruption  of  any  person  or 
persons  exercising  a  public  office  or  private  trust,  or  deception 
or  betrayal  of  the  public.  When  rendering  any  such  improper 
service  or  advice,   the  lawyer  invites  and  merits  stern  and  just 


62  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

condemnation.  Correspondingly,  he  advances  the  honor  of  his 
profession  and  the  best  interests  of  his  client  when  he  renders 
service  or  gives  advice  tending  to  impress  upon  the  client  and 
his  tmdertaking  exact  compliance  with  the  strictest  principles  of 
moral  law.  He  must  also  observe  and  advise  his  client  to  observe 
the  statute  law,  though  until  a  statute  shall  have  been  construed 
and  interpreted  by  competent  adjudication,  he  is  free  and  is  en- 
titled to  advise  as  to  its  validity  and  as  to  what  he  conscientiously 
believes  to  be  its  just  meaning  and  extent.  But,  above  all,  a 
lawyer  will  find  his  highest  honor  in  a  deserved  reputation  for 
fidelity  to  private  trust  and  to  public  duty,  as  an  honest  man  and 
as  a  patriotic  and  loyal  citizen. 

The  conduct  of  the  commercial  lawyer  is  being  scru- 
tinized now  as  never  before,  not  only  by  the  C.  L.  L.  A., 
but  by  laymen. 

Secretary  J.  H.  Tregoe  of  the  National  Association 
of  Credit  Men,  in  a  general  letter  to  the  members  of  the 
association,  dated  January  3,  1916,  said : 

"  'The  honest  and  capable  lawyer  is  not  likely  to 
make  the  most  noise.'  A  commercial  lawyer  whose  pro- 
fessional ideals  are  beyond  question  is  responsible  for 
this  sentiment. 

"We  can  as  justly  suspicion  the  attorney  who  ad- 
vertises as  we  can  the  physician  who  advertises.  The 
attorney  equipped  to  give  the  most  efficient  service  and 
who  cannot  be  induced  to  do  that  which  is  contrary  to 
the  ethics  of  his  profession,  must  be  found  out  by  in- 
quiry and  the  exercise  of  discretion. 

"Altogether  too  large  a  proportion  of  our  bad  debt 
waste  may  be  laid  at  the  door  of  commercial  attorneys 
who  will  not  only  act  in  collusion  with  a  weak  or  un- 
principled trader,  but  even  suggest  plans  of  cheating 
creditors ;  all  of  which  is  said  v/ithout  forgetting  that 
the  attorney  of  crooked  tendencies  is  led  frequently  into 
devious  ways  by  the  business  man. 

"We  must  eliminate,  if  possible,  the  unfair  and  un- 
professional lawyer,  and  the  elimination  may  be  brought 
about  by  the  adherence  to  honest  ideals  by  the  credit 
man  and  the  exercise  of  diligence  in  selecting  lawyers 
who  are  honest  as  well  as  capable. 


AND    HIS  WORK  63 

"As  a  feature  in  this  work  to  which  we  are  setting 
our  hands  with  determined  purpose,  may  we  request  our 
members  to  report  to  the  National  office  all  the  experi- 
ences they  have  had  with  commercial  lawyers  which 
would  point  to  low  standards  or  unprofessional  meth- 
ods, for  such  experiences  will  help  promote  desirable 
investigation  for  the  building  up  in  the  National  office 
of  information  for  the  service  and  the  guidance  of  mem- 
bers in  obtaining  desirable  correspondents." 


I  approach  the  subject  of  Ethics  with  considerable 
diffidence. 

I  realize  that  if  the  commercial  lawyers  of  the  coun- 
try today  lived  up,  literally,  to  the  requirements  of  the 
code  of  ethics  adopted  by  the  American  Bar  Association 
and  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  they 
would  almost  to  a  man  be  compelled  to  go  out  of  the 
commercial  law  and  collection  business. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the  commercial 
lawyers  of  the  country  should  resign  this  field  of  work 
to  the  layman,  so  that  I  hesitate  very  much  to  advise 
that  the  codes  of  ethics  that  have  been  adopted  by  the 
two  great  organizations  of  lawyers  shall  govern  strictly 
in  this  field  of  work. 

I  am  a  lawyer  myself  with  all  of  a  lawyer's  instincts 
and  all  of  his  pride  in  his  profession;  but  I  am  also  some- 
thing of  a  business  man  with  a  business  man's  instincts, 
and  a  business  man's  view  of  things.  I  view  with  great 
concern  the  trend  of  events  in  the  commercial  law  and 
collection  world  of  recent  years,  for  I  see  in  it  ultimately 
the  absolute  elimination  from  this  class  of  work  of  the 
commercial  lawyer. 

In  looking  for  some  remedy,  some  way  of  escape 
from  this  unfortunate  condition,  some  method  of  stem- 
ming the  tide  of  invasion  of  the  lawyer's  rights,  I  am 


64  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

wondering  whether  the  rule  of  "Self-preservation  is  the 
first  law  of  nature"  should  not  override  man-made  rules 
as  to  the  matter  of  what  is  ethical. 

I  am  sometimes  constrained  to  say :  What  is  ethics 
anyhow?  It  is  but  the  opinion  of  a  certain  group  of 
men  at  a  certain  time,  as  to  what  is  proper  behavior.  At 
another  time,  under  other  conditions,  this  same  group 
of  men  (or  a  different  group  just  as  honest  and  just  as 
sincere)  might  determine  on  a  different  set  of  ethical 
rules. 

I  also  recall  that  rules  of  ethics  have  been  made 
largely  by  men  who  have  had  absolutely  no  experience 
in  the  field  of  commercial  law  and  collections.  I  know 
what  the  American  Bar  Association  was  some  years 
ago,  when  it  was  discussing  and  coming  to  a  decision, 
— and  it  took  it  a  long  time — on  this  matter  of  ethics. 
I  was  at  the  time  a  young  lawyer  myself  and  ambitious. 
I  joined  the  American  Bar  Association  and  attended  its 
annual  meetings.  I  found  them  attended  by  retired 
lawyers,  college  professors,  and  (in  general)  men  who 
were  far  removed  from  the  active  work  of  the  profes- 
sion. I  found  myself,  as  a  young  man,  persona  non 
grata;  and  I  was  not  slow  in  resigning  my  membership 
and  quitting  the  body.  I  realize  that,  in  later  years,  the 
American  Bar  Association  has  become  a  very  different 
body  and  I  give  the  credit  for  it,  very  largely,  to  mem- 
bers of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  who 
have  entered  into  its  deliberation  and  made  of  it  a  live 
body. 

Any  code  of  ethics  adopted  by  the  sort  of  an  organ- 
ization that  the  American  Bar  Association  was  at  the 
time  of  which  I  speak  could  not  fail  to  be*  highly 
idealistic. 

I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the  code  of  ethics  adopted 
by  the  American  Bar  Association  and  afterwards 
adopted  by  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America 
without  debate  and  without  even  having  before  it  a  copy 


AND    HIS  WORK  65 

of  that  code.  It  strikes  a  high  note  of  dignity  and  its 
every  paragraph  is  expressive  of  high  principle.  I  ques- 
tion, however,  whether,  under  modern  conditions,  the 
commercial  lawyer  can  stand  by  this  code  and  preserve 
his  professional  life. 

Let  us  see  what  the  commercial  lawyer  who  stands 
by  the  letter  of  this  code  cannot  do :  — 

The  commercial  lawyer  may  not  pay  for  representa- 
tion in  the  law  lists  of  the  country  the  money  asked  for 
such  representation  by  publishers,  because  the  price  of 
such  representation  is  not  determined  by  circulation  or 
by  any  other  settled  standard,  but,  is  determined  wholly 
by  the  amount  of  business  that  the  list  has  either  al- 
ready furnished  for  that  particular  location,  or  is  pre- 
pared to  promise  to  furnish.  In  other  words,  the  price 
is  an  amount  stated  as  a  consideration  for  a  more  or 
less  certain  amount  of  business  to  be  furnished.  This 
is  purchasing  business  and  must  fall  within  the  inhibi- 
tion of  the  code  of  ethics  in  question. 

The  commercial  lawyer  may  not  solicit  business 
through  circular  letters,  or  through  personal  letters. 

The  commercial  lawyer  may  not,  in  person,  visit  the 
sources  of  business  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  employ- 
ment or  introducing  himself  with  a  view  to  future  em- 
ployment. 

The  commercial  lawyer  may  not  even  scatter  his 
cards  broadcast  throughout  the  country,  with  a  view 
to  catching  stray  items  of  business  from  among  the  for- 
warding or  client  class. 

The  accepted  code  of  ethics  would  require  of  the 
lawyer  that  he  await  being  found  out.  He  may  not 
introduce  himself.  He  must  be  patient  and  let  the  com- 
mercial world  discover,  by  what  means  we  know  not, 
that  he  is  prepared  to  do  business  for  them  and  desires 
to  do  so. 

Where  a  lawyer's  reputation  is  well  known  in  his 
own    community,    the   soliciting   of   business    would    at 


66  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

once  appear  to  be  unethical  and  improper;  but  where 
commercial  clients  are  seeking  the  assistance  of  lawyers 
over  the  entire  continent  there  must  be  some  means  by 
which  the  men  who  are  adequately  equipped  for  and 
desirous  of  doing  commercial  business  may  be  found 
out.  Clients,  however,  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
find  these  things  out  of  themselves,  nor  can  forwarders. 
It  is  up  to  the  lawyer  himself  to  make  known  the  fact 
that  he  is  in  the  field. 

It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  for  the  commercial 
lawyer  to  advertise  the  fact  that  he  has  equipped  his 
office  for  the  handling  of  commercial  business  and  that 
he  has  employes  especially  skilled  in  that  line  and  that 
he  is  desirous  of  serving  the  business  public,  is  to  com- 
mit a  professional  sin.  It  is  not  like  saying  "1  have 
a  better  brain  than  anybody  else,"  or  "I  am  more  skilled 
than  another,"  or  "I  am  better  educated;"  it  is  simply 
saying,  "I  have  selected  this  branch  of  the  work  for 
my  special  field.  I  desire  to  serve  the  business  public 
and  I  have  equipped  myself  especially  for  it." 

It  is  well  understood  that  the  lawyer  in  general 
practice  is  not  prepared  to  do  commercial  business.  One 
to  do  this  business  and  do  it  right  must  be  especially 
equipped  and  must  have  especial  aptitude  for  it,  or 
especial  facilities.  There  are  comparatively  few  men  so 
equipped  and  so  capable.  It  is  almost  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  business  world  that  information  as  to  who 
and  where  the  men  are  that  are  ready  to  do  this  sort 
of  work  and  prepared  to  do  it  right  be  conveyed  to 
them. 

I  know  that  I  will  be  called  a  heretic  and  that  I  will 
run  great  risk  of  being  burned  at  the  stake  for  my 
temerity  or  lack  of  caution  in  thus,  in  a  way,  advocating 
the  letting  down  of  the  bars  in  the  matter  of  ethical 
rules  on  the  solicitation  of  business  in  behalf  of  com- 
mercial lawyers.  I  am  ready,  however,  to  take  the 
stigma   because   I   believe   that   unless   the   commercial 


AND    HIS  WORK  67 

lawyer  is  permitted  to  undertake  this  line  of  business 
and  advertise  his  facilities  for  it,  one  of  the  best  and 
most  renumerative  avenues  of  professional  business  is 
going  to  be  closed  to  the  legal  profession. 

The  sources  of  commercial  business  for  the  lawyer 
are  drying  up.  I  absolutely  know  this  to  be  a  fact.  The 
reasons,  for  there  are  many,  are  not  hard  to  find. 

First,  the  commercial  lawyer  has  been  refused 
permission  to  solicit  business.  The  solicitation  of  this 
business,  however,  is  open  to  the  layman,  and  he  has 
taken  advantage  of  his  privilege  and  has  solicited  the 
business  to  the  extent  that  it  is  very  largely  monopol- 
ized by  the  mercantile  and  collection  agency,  particu- 
larly in  the  large  cities.  Many  lawyers  and  law  firms,  in 
order  to  protect  themselves,  have  organized  collection 
departments  and  even  given  them  the  name  of  an  agency 
and  have  through  them  solicited  business  indirectly; 
but  this  again  is  a  breach  of  professional  ethics;  it  is 
an  indirect  soliciting  of  business.  These  lawyers  have 
learned  that  they  must  find  a  way  of  competing  with 
the  layman  if  they  are  to  live  in  this  field.  They  have 
taken  the  roundabout  way  of  doing  it,  but  they  are 
simply  playing  the  ostrich  act,  their  head  is  under  the 
sand  but  their  whole  body  is  outside.  They  are  well 
recognized   as   engaged   in   unprofessional   practice. 

Second,  the  lay  agencies,  and  the  lawyer  forwarders 
for  that  matter,  have  learned  a  hundred  and  one  tricks 
of  collecting  without  the  use  of  the  local  lawyer,  by 
means  of  direct-demand  letters,  by  means  of  bank  drafts, 
by  means  of  offering  special  fees  to  local  justices, 
notaries,  banks,  postmasters  and  express  agents,  by 
means  of  the  telegraph  and  the  telephone,  and  by  means 
of  the  personal  adjuster,  so-called,  or  the  traveling  col- 
lector. 

Third,  business  is  being  centralized  in  the  hands  of 
the  leading  law  firms  in  the  principal  commercial  cen- 
ters to  the  disadvantage  of  attorneys  in  all  surround- 


68  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ing  cities  and  towns  by  the  "adjustment  system" — a 
system  by  which  an  adjustment  company  controlling 
large  business  will  appoint  a  certain  firm  of  attorneys, 
we  will  say,  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  with  that  firm  will 
make  a  contract  by  which  the  firm  travels  on  all  mat- 
ters of  any  importance  throughout  a  given  territory  at 
a  per  diem  or  a  fixed  percentage.  This,  of  course,  takes 
away  from  the  local  attorney  throughout  that  territory 
business  that  is  rightfully  his.  A  peculiar  phase  of  this 
scheme  is  that  at  least  one  of  the  large  and  powerful 
directory  companies,  or  law  lists,  selling  representation 
to  these  same  small  city  and  country  attorneys  through- 
out the  Atlanta  district  will  have  a  contract  with  an 
Atlanta  firm  by  which  all  business  of  a  certain  charac- 
ter where  the  amount  is  considerable  will  not  go  to  the 
local  attorneys  who  are  paying  the  money  to  the  direc- 
tory for  the  business  of  those  localities  but  will  go  to 
the  firm  in  Atlanta  who  sends  out  a  traveling  solicitor 
or  collector,  or  goes*  out  in  the  person  of  one  of  its  own 
members.  That  local  attorneys  will  stand  for  this  is 
beyond  my  understanding. 

Fourth,  the  system  of  demand-letters,  drafts,  etc., 
etc.,  which  is  sold  by  agencies  to  clients  whereby  clients 
make  their  own  collections  is  serving  to  take  away  busi- 
ness from  the  local  attorney. 

Fifth,  the  system  of  trade  acceptances  which  is  just 
coming  into  vogue  is  another  direct  blow  at  the  local 
lawyer.  He  is  going  to  feel  the  effect  of  it  very  much 
in  the  near  future.  The  acceptance  takes  the  place  of 
the  open  account.  A  bill  of  goods  is  sold  by  a  manu- 
facturer or  jobber  to  a  local  merchant  and  instead  of 
the  account  standing  on  the  books  for  thirty  or  sixty 
days  an  acceptance  is  asked  for  and  this  acceptance  is 
used  as  a  piece  of  commercial  paper  and  may  be  dis- 
counted at  a  bank;  so  that  when  it  is  due  it  is  in  the 
hands  of  an  innocent  purchaser  for  value  and  the  local 
merchant  must  pay. 


AND    HIS  WORK  69 

In  the  case  of  an  open  account,  the  local  merchant 
(if  a  little  slow)  was  given  time  and  very  frequently  the 
slow  account  became  a  piece  of  business  for  the  local 
lawyer.  In  the  case  of  trade  acceptance,  however,  the 
account  is  closed,  the  paper  is  in  the  hands  of  an  inno- 
cent purchaser  for  value,  the  merchant  sees  the  necessity 
of  paying  when  it  is  due  and,  there  being  no  extension 
and  no  possibility  of  standing  ofif  the  jobber  or  manu- 
facturer who  sold  the  goods,  there  is  nothing  to  come 
into  the  hands  of  the  local  attorney.  There  may  be 
some  litigation  on  these  acceptances,  but  the  proba- 
bility is  that  it  will  be  little  and  far  between  as  com- 
pared with  the  amount  of  business  coming  to  the  lawyer 
from  the  open  account  system.  It  is  claimed  that 
the  trade  acceptance  is  a  great  improvement  over 
the  open  account  system.  I  am  not  arguing  for  or 
against  it;  I  am  simply  saying  that  this  new  implement 
of  commerce  is  a  direct  hurt  to  the  commercial  lawyer. 

Sixth,  the  greatest  harm  to  the  commercial  law- 
yer's business  has  come  through  the  organizations  of 
credit  men.  In  most  of  the  important  commercial  cen- 
ters of  the  country  credit  men  have  organized  their  own 
adjustment  bureaus  which  not  only  gather  up  the  busi- 
ness of  the  credit  men  of  their  own  community,  who 
are  in  a  way  proprietors  of  the  bureaus  and  interested 
in  their  success,  but  they  also  receive  the  business  of 
other  adjustment  bureaus  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

There  is  coming  to  be  a  great  network  of  these  ad- 
justment bureaus  controlled  by  the  credit  men  them- 
selves and  most  of  them  make  a  boast  of  their  facilities 
for  doing  business  without  the  aid  of  the  lawyer.  Some 
of  their  circular  matter  is  extreme  in  this  respect  and 
betrays  a  spirit  of  antagonism  to  the  lawyer  that  is,  to 
say  the  least,  unjustifiable. 

The  adjustment  bureaus  in  the  beginning  were  or- 
ganized for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  difficulties  and 
taking  charge   of  the  affairs   of  failing  merchants   and 


70  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

trying  to  save  assets  for  creditors.  They  have,  how- 
ever, become  ambitious  of  recent  years,  and  there  is 
scarcely  one  of  them  now  but  what  is  out  for  the  gen- 
eral collection  business  and  using  as  its  main  argument 
the  statement  that  it  can  serve  the  merchant  more 
economically  in  that  it  can  make  collections  and  settle- 
ments without  the  use  of  the  lawyer. 

I  hear  very  much  complaint  of  the  dropping  off  of 
business  in  commercial  law  offices.  I  am  not  surprised 
at  it;  in  fact,  I  am  surprised  that  there  is  any  appre- 
ciable amount  of  it  in  law  offices  in  view  of  the  un- 
friendly elements  working  against  the  lawyer. 

It  is  from  the  knowledge  that  the  lawyer  is  handi- 
caped  by  his  rules  of  ethics  in  saying  to  the  business 
world,  I  am  prepared  to  do  your  work,  I  am  especially 
fitted  for  it,  I  have  especial  facilities,  I  desire  this  class 
of  work,  I  am  willing  to  give  unusual  effort  to  it,  I  have 
hired  competent  men  for  it,  and  from  the  knowledge 
that  the  avenues  of  this  sort  of  business  are  being 
closed  to  the  lawyer  by  means  over  which  he  has  no 
control,  that  I  am  taking  the  position  that  the  lawyer 
should  be  permitted  to  defend  himself.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it  is  fair  that  he  should  be  compelled  to  take 
down  his  sign  and  close  his  shop,  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  years  ago  men  with  no  conception  of  pres- 
ent day  conditions  have  declared  that  he  shall  not,  in 
any  way,  declare  himself  ready  and  prepared  to  do  this 
line  of  work. 

If  this  is  treason,  make  the  most  of  it. 

I  know  that  nothing  I  can  say  will  serve  to  change 
the  application  of  the  strict  rules  of  professional  ethics 
with  reference  to  the  solicitation  of  business.  I  believe 
the  rule  is  being  more  tightly  drawn  every  year,  largely 
through  the  influence  of  such  organizations  as  the  New 
York  County  Lawyers  Association,  whose  opinions  and 
answers  to  ethical  questions  I  am  giving  publicity  in 
this  book,  and  whose  words  are  being  copied  and  studied 


AND    HIS  WORK  71 

and  adopted  in  other  jurisdictions.  I  believe,  too,  that 
the  rule  of  ethics  with  reference  to  soliciting  is  being 
more  and  more  generally  adopted  by  the  lawyers  of  the 
country.  This  is  only  another  condition  that  is  adding 
to  the  embarrassment  of  the  lawyer,  because  with  the 
tightening  of  the  ethical  rules  and  at  the  same  time  the 
drying  up  of  the  sources  of  business,  he  is  between  the 
upper  and  the  nether  millstone.  He  is  being  crushed 
between  his  own  rules  and  the  surrounding  conditions. 
I  see  no  escape  for  him,  but  an  escape  from  the  com- 
mercial practice  entirely,  leaving  the  field  to  the  laymen 
and  to  the  few  men  who  will  always  follow  the  practice 
for  what  there  is  in  it,  despite  the  rules  of  ethics,  from 
being  unable  to  practice  in  any  other  field. 

The  late  Walter  S.  Carter  of  Carter,  Hughes  & 
Dwight,  of  New  York  City,  a  firm  of  world  wide  fame 
as  a  commercial  firm,  once  delivered  an  able  ad- 
dress on  "Ways  that  Win."  When  the  writer  was  pub- 
lishing a  business  law  periodical  in  Detroit  some  years 
ago  he  printed  this  address  by  Mr.  Carter's  permission 
and  sold  thousands  of  copies  of  it.  In  this  address  Mr. 
Carter  took  the  young  lawyer  into  his  confidence  and 
talked  to  him  as  a  father  regarding  even  such  intimate 
matters  as  his  manners  and  his  dress. 

If  Mr.  Carter,  the  head  of  a  firm  that  furnished  a 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  and 
a  Presidential  candidate,  could  descend  to  such  particu- 
lars, the  vastly  more  humble  writer  of  this  book  may  do 
so.  We  have  not  seen  Mr.  Carter's  book  in  a  dozen 
years  so  there  can  be  no  danger  of  plagiarism,  though 
the  writer  is  hoping  that  his  thoughts  on  the  subject 
may  not  be  far  from  paralleling  those  of  the  writer  of 
"Ways  that  Win;'  in  other  words  that  it  may  be  said 
by  those  who  have  read  both  that  again  "great  minds 
run  in  the  same  channel." 

Another  introductory  word.  Mr  Carter  is  dead.  He 
can  never  get  with  ears  of  flesh  and  blood  the  words 


72  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

of  gratitude  and  appreciation  I  speak  because  of  the 
kindly  treatment  I  years  ago  received  from  that  great 
business  lawyer.  It  was  in  the  very  early  days  of  my 
practice  when  the  publishing  bee  began  to  buzz  in  my 
bonnet;  when  I  began  to  think  the  world  would  rather 
see  me  spattering  ink  than  pleading  causes.  My  initial 
step  in  the  literary  legal  line  was  a  trip  to  big  eastern 
cities  to  get  the  lay  of  the  land  and  see  if  perchance  the 
going  might  be  good  for  a  publication  devoted  to  the 
commercial  law  practice  on  its  business  side.  Some 
kindly  providence  directed  my  youthful  steps  to  the  of- 
fice at  No.  1  Wall  Street,  just  opposite  old  Trinity  and 
into  the  presence  of  Walter  S.  Carter.  The  visitor  was 
but  an  amateur  in  knowledge  and  experience,  but  the 
veteran  attorney  squared  himself  away  for  a  two  hour 
interview,  as  if  it  was  I  who  had  the  wisdom  and  he 
the  thirst  for  knowledge.  Much  of  what  I  learned  in 
those  two  hours  went  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  my  life. 
Because  of  this  interview  and  subsequent  friendly  cor- 
respondence, "Ways  that  Win"  by  Walter  S.  Carter 
found  its  way  into  the  hands  of  thousands  of  lawyers 
and  so  in  the  subtle  way  that  things  spiritual  and  true 
have  of  working  their  mission,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
but  that  Walter  S.  Carter  lives  in  thousands  of  other 
lives  today.  To  him  the  writer  owes  a  motto  he  long 
ago  adopted : 

"What  ought  to  be  can  be." 

Ways  that  win  are  so  numerous  we  must  be  pardoned 
if  we  but  briefly  enumerate  most  of  them.  Then  too 
many  are  self-evident  and  being  self-evident  are  for- 
gotten and  hence  need  mention. 

By  ways  that  win,  we  mean,  ethical  ways  by  which 
the  Commercial  Lawyer  may  win  success  in  his  chosen 
field,  and  these  ways  are  ways  in  many  cases  that  win 
in  every  field.  Yes,  this  will  be  another  of  the  million 
chapters  that  have  been  written  on  the  hacknied  theme 
"Success,"  but  it  will  be  something  more,  in  that  it  will 


AND    HIS  WORK  73 

be  directly  applicable  to  one  line  of  endeavor — that  of 
making  the  practice  of  commercial  law  a  quick,  honor- 
able and  profitable  road  to  competency  and  public  es- 
teem— two  things  that  embrace  about  all  a  man  can 
hope  for  this  side  the  grave. 

Be  in  Earnest. 

There  is  nothing  wins  confidence  so  much  as  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  sincerely  and  heartily  at  work  at 
something.  I  recall  an  aged  lawyer  friend  in  Detroit, 
whom  I  often  met  on  the  street  cars,  at  luncheon,  on 
the  street,  in  court.  His  face,  mien,  gait,  all  betokened 
earnest  concentrated  living.  He  was  not  much  to  look 
at.  He  was  small  of  stature,  wrinkled,  gray,  somewhat 
stooped.  He  was  not  an  advocate — an  orator.  He  was 
not  in  society.  Politics  did  not  bother  him,  though  he 
was  a  model  citizen.  He  was  not  a  personal  friend  or 
acquaintance  of  mine.  We  but  bowed  as  we  met,  and, 
mark  you  for  further  comment  later,  he,  an  aged  man, 
bowed  to  me,  a  youngster  with  nothing  about  me  to 
especially  attract  the  courtesy. 

Earnestness  above  everything  else  characterized  John 
D.  Conley,  in  my  estimation.  Result :  When  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  National  Association  of  Implement 
Manufacturers  some  years  later,  came  to  my  office  to 
ask  my  advice  as  to  whom  of  Detroit's  lawyers  they 
should  select  to  institute  a  suit  of  paramount  importance 
to  their  entire  membership,  which  envolved  questions 
that  would  finally  land  the  case  in  the  highest  tribunal 
in  the  land,  I  put  down  the  names  of  Detroit's  lawyers 
of  eminence  and  then  crossed  them  out  one  by  one  till 
only  that  of  John  D.  Conley  was  left.  I  took  the  com- 
mittee to  his  office.  They  were  introduced  and  I  left 
lawyer  and  prospective  clients  together.  Later  in  the 
day,  the  committee  returned  to  my  office  with  this  word 
"We  have  found  the  man  we  want  and  we  want  to  thank 
you."     No  man  could  talk  with  that  lawyer  and  come 


74  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

away  feeling  that  if  perchance  he  was  not  a  great 
lawyer  he  was  a  sincere  and  earnest  one. 

The  cause  of  many  a  Commercial  Lawyer's  failure 
is  his  lack  of  sincere  interest  in  his  work,  either  through 
constitutional  laziness  and  indifference,  or  through  a 
lack  of  respect  for  his  work  in  this  line.  I  would  not 
employ  and  trust  a  Commercial  Lawyer  who  tells  me, 
"1  know  nothing  about  the  commercial  end  of  my  busi- 
ness. I  leave  that  to  my  clerks."  Either  the  man  is  ly- 
ing or  he  is  wanting  in  earnest  solicitude  and  care  for 
what  in  most  of  such  cases  is  the  very  foundation  of 
his  business.  When  a  lawyer  gets  to  the  point  where  he 
says :  "I  don't  care  for  commercial  business,"  or  "I  am 
thinking  of  dropping  commercial  business,"  or  "I  would 
like  to  quit"  or  "wish  I  had  never  taken  up  this  line  of 
work,"  he  is  admitting  a  failure  and  at  the  same  time 
confessing  to  the  cause  of  his  failure. 

Earnestness  in  a  work  means  a  love  of  it  and  without 
a  certain  degree  of  love  for  one's  work  no  true  success 
can  follow.  Earnestness  too  makes  up  for  a  lack  of 
many  other  qualities.  The  earnest  ignorant  man  will 
often  succeed,  where  the  indifferent  wise  one  fails. 

At  C.  L.  L.  A.  conventions  I  always  enjoy  the  dile- 
tante,  the  lounger,  the  me-for-a-good-time,  the  let- 
George-do-it,  the  porch-chair  artist  and  story  teller, 
but  I  take  off  my  hat  with  profound  respect  to  the 
man  who  when  the  gavel  falls  is  in  his  place  in  the  Con- 
vention, interested,  alert,  watchful,  resourceful,  earnest, 
and  who,  when  the  Convention  has  adjourned,  has  writ- 
ten his  personality  into  League  history.  I  forget  the 
first  man.  I  cannot  forget  the  second.  The  easy  fel- 
low pleases  me,  the  earnest  man  wins  me.  The  former 
gets  my  friendship,  the  latter  gets  that  and  more — my 
business. 

Says  one :  "The  longer  I  live,  the  more  I  am  cer- 
tain that  the  great  difference  between  men — be- 
tween the  feeble  and  the  powerful,  the  great  and 


AND    HIS  WORK  75 

the  insignificant — is  energy — invincible  determina- 
tion— a  purpose  once  fixed,  and  then  death  or  vic- 
tory. That  quality  can  do  anything  that  can  be 
done  in  this  world;  and  no  talents,  no  circumstan- 
ces, no  opportunities,  will  make  a  two-legged  crea- 
ture a  man  without  it." 

Be  prompt. 

Punctuality,  which  is  akin  to  promptness,  is  said 
to  be  the  courtesy  of  kings.  In  general,  it  is  a  pretty 
fine  thing.  As  a  business  virtue,  nothing  surpasses  it. 
All  good  business  men  are  prompt.  In  a  Commercial 
Lawyer  it  is  a  sine  qua  non. 

As  I  have  said  the  Commercial  Lawyer  deals  with 
business  men,  and  what  is  most  important  to  consider, 
in  certain  of  his  employments  he  is  a  competitor  of  the 
business  or  non-professional  man.  Dealing  with  business 
men  he  is  gauged  by  business  standards  and,  as  he 
knows,  a  business  man  wanting  in  punctuality  can  not 
maintain  his  credit  or  standing.  As  a  competitor  of 
laymen,  many  of  whom  are  trained  business  men,  he 
must  lose  out  if  he  fails  to  measure  up  with  them  in 
this  as  in  other  things. 

Meeting  in  New  Orleans  one  day  a  lawyer  friend  I 
put  the  highly  original  conumdrum,  "How's  business?" 
and  for  answer  I  received  the  stereotyped  reply,  "Oh, 
I  can't  complain,"  but  he  did  complain,  for  in  answer  to 
my  query  as  to  whether  he  was  going  to  the  League 
convention  at  Colorado  Springs  he  looked  sad  and  re- 
marked, "Well,  I  have  about  decided  to  give  up  the  com- 
mercial end  of  my  business,"  meaning,  of  course,  "col- 
lections," which  term  seems  in  some  minds  synonymous 
with  commercial  law. 

What  the  answer  had  to  do  with  the  question,  he  will 
have  to  say ;  I  can't.  "You  see,"  he  went  on,  "the  situa- 
tion is  becoming  intolerable  to  the  self-respecting 
lawyer.  From  the  moment  a  claim  is  sent  him  he  be- 
comes nothing  but  a  hired  man.  Scarcely  has  the  claim 


76  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

been  docketed  ere  there  is  a  request  for  information  re- 
garding results.  To  a  man  who  is  practicing  law  hon- 
estly and  tr3'ing  to  do  right  by  his  clients  as  well  as  by 
himself  this  system  of  espionage  is  intolerable." 

"Yes,"  I  said,  "in  a  measure,  you  are  right.  But  for- 
warders, many  of  them,  are  in  the  business  in  a  large 
way.  They  can  conduct  their  business  successfully  only 
through  the  adoption  of  methods,  and  methods  mean 
system. 

"Unfortunately,  too,  system  requires  that  the  meth- 
ods adopted  shall  be  such  as  fit  the  great  majority  of 
cases.  The  forwarder  can  not  know  personally  all  his 
attorneys  and  can  not  modify  his  methods  to  suit  the 
character  and  habits  of  each.  He  might  have  confidence 
in  your  doing  the  right  thing  at  the  right  time  and 
reporting  results,  but  with  the  next  man  he  might  not 
have  such  confidence.  He  can  not  do  a  large  business  in 
a  closely  personal  way,  for  much  must  be  left  to  clerks, 
who  must  be  governed  by  certain  rules  of  procedure  and 
unfortunately  all  rules  must  be  made  not  for  those  at- 
torneys who  do  business  promptly  and  well,  but  for 
those  who  fail  to  do  so.  Hence,  you  who  do  business 
right  must  suffer  the  humiliation  you  speak  of  and  rest 
under  the  assumption  that  you  need  a  jog  of  the  memory 
at  frequent  intervals.  So  you  can't  help  becoming,  as 
it  were,  a  part  of  a  machine,  distasteful  though  it  is." 

Then  I  thought  to  myself,  why  should  the  lawyer  find 
it  distasteful  to  thus  find  himself  held  to  strict  account 
in  his  actions.  Every  other  line  of  business  requires 
of  its  devotees  that  they  walk  the  chalk  line.  The  banker, 
the  merchant,  even  the  physician,  is  held  strictly  to  ac- 
count as  to  the  matter  of  prompt  performance  of  duty. 

What  divinity  hedges  about  the  lawyer  that  once  be- 
ing employed  he  should  not  be  interrogated  and  held 
to  account  for  his  use  of  time  and  means. 

I  have  mighty  respect  for  my  New  Orleans  friend 
and  I  think  I,  in  a  measure,  understand  and  appreciate 


AND    HIS  WORK  77 

his  point  of  view.  This  man  ought  to  be  happy  in  his 
work  and  as  long-  as  he  holds  his  present  view  of  what 
is  becoming  to  his  dignity  he  ought  to  keep  clear  of  the 
commercial  side  of  practice,  at  least  so  far  as  it  re- 
lates to  "collections." 

The  vast  majority  of  Commercial  Lawyers  are 
prompt  to  act  and  prompt  to  report.  Modern  system- 
atized offices  require  it.  A  lack  of  promptness,  which 
characterized  the  whole  profession  years  ago  is  confined 
now  to  a  small  minority. 

Unfortunately  business  men  charge  up  to  the  whole 
class  the  faults  of  the  few.  The  whole  world  of  Com- 
mercial Lawyers  is  damned  if  the  client  has  a  few  sorry 
experiences  with  some  of  the  weak  sisters.  So,  for  the 
betterment  of  all,  we  must  continually  preach  prompt- 
ness, though  most  of  those  who  read  these  words  I  am 
sure   do   not   need   them. 

Promptness  in  answering  letters  is  really  a  splendid 
habit.  It  is  a  joy  to  the  sender  and  a  joy  to  the  receiver. 
It  greases  the  wheels  of  business.  It  does  away  with 
much  of  its  worries.     It  costs  less  than  tardiness. 

The  lawyer  who  complains  that  he  is  flooded  with  re- 
quests for  reports,  useless  ones  he  says,  will  generally 
find  that  a  prompt  answer  to  request  number  1  would 
have  prevented  requests  No.  2  and  3.  A  asks  B  for  a  re- 
port on  a  matter  in  his  hands.  B  neglects  to  reply.  In 
two  weeks  A  writes  again.  B  still  neglects.  In  ten  days 
A  Avrites  again.  B  now  thinks  the  miserable  client  has 
nothing  to  do  but  write  him  for  a  report.  The  first  re- 
quest promptly  answered  would  have  given  no  such  im- 
pression. 

Many  useless  letters  are  written  Commercial  Law- 
yers by  Forwarders  and  clients  which  somewhat  try 
their  patience.  But  a  prompt,  brief,  courteous  reply 
under  such  circumstances  is  better  than  a  loss  of  temper 
or  a  stubborn  silence.     The  former  may  cost  a  little  ef- 


78  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

fort,  but  the  latter  may  cost  a  client  or  a  connection, 
which,  if  not  now,  some  day  may  be  worth  while. 

Forwarders  do  not  write  letters  to  their  attorneys  for 
the  fun  of  it  or  to  spend  their  money.  They  want  what 
they  ask  for  with  a  very  laudable  desire  to  be  able  to 
post  the  client  (the  Receiver's  as  well  as  the  Forwarder's 
client  he  is)  as  to  the  latest  development  in  the  matter. 
The  client  has  a  right  to  this.  The  Forwarder  is  bound 
to  get  it  for  him. 

The  reason  ofttimes  for  frequent  requests  for  report 
is  that  the  Receiver  leads  the  Forwarder  to  think  that 
within  a  time  more  or  less  definitely  stated  something 
will  happen.  The  Forwarder  makes  note  of  this  and 
reports  it  to  client  who  also  makes  note  of  it.  When 
the  time  rolls  around  and  no  report  is  forthcoming,  the 
request  comes,  and,  this  being  neglected,  soon  another, 
and  another,  sometimes  for  a  period  of  months,  until 
the  Receiver  thinks  he  is  being  persecuted,  when  in  fact 
he  is  the  persecutor. 

Another  reason  for  requests  for  reports,  lies  in  the 
fact  that  Lawyers'  reports  are  frequently  not  definite 
enough.  They  do  not  contain  enough  facts  to  warrant 
the  Forwarder  in  suspending  action  wholly  or  indefinite- 
ly. In  such  a  case,  if  he  has  a  systematic  office,  he 
"tickles"  the  item  for  some  time  in  the  future  by  which 
time  he  figures  he  can  reasonably  expect  a  full  report 
or  return  of  the  matter.  After  waiting  the  required 
time  his  office  system  automatically  brings  the  matter 
forward  and  the  request  goes  out. 

This  requesting  of  reports  is  not  a  hap-hazard  or 
happy-go-lucky  way  the  Forwarder  has  of  putting  in  his 
spare  time.  Many  Forwarders,  the  best  of  them,  have 
many  thousands  of  items  of  live  business  in  the  hands 
of  thousands  of  lawyers.  Some  system  must  be  devised 
so  that  as  long  as  a  matter  is  not  dead  it  must  come  up 
periodically  for  attention.  So  long  as  it  is  in  a  Re- 
ceiver's hands  it  is  assumed  to  be  alive.     This  system  is 


AND    HIS  WORK  79 

automatic.  Every  day  there  comes  before  some  one  or 
more  of  the  partners  or  clerks  all  the  matters  which  the 
revolving  wheel  of  time  brings  that  day  to  the  surface. 
There  may  be  a  hundred  items.  A  report  is  due  on  this 
one.  A  letter  is  written.  Ano'ther  date  is  chosen  some 
days  ahead  when  it  must  come  up  again  if  the  letter  is 
not  answered  and  then  it  is  ticked  for  another  date  and 
another  letter.  Nobody  in  the  office  is  trying  to  perse- 
cute anyone.  It  is  business — plain,  sensible,  necessary 
business.  Without  some  such  method  the  Forwarder 
would  be  in  purgatory  in  thirty  days  or  in  the  insane 
asylum. 

The  really  exasperating  cases — exasperating  to  the 
Receivers,  are  where  requests  are  made  for  reports, 
which  seem  to  ignore  the  existence  of  all  previous  re- 
ports. An  example  of  this  is  where  a  report  had  been 
made  that  the  debtor  was  dead.  Later  another  request 
for  report  was  sent  out.     The  reply  was  "still  dead." 

In  many  cases  this  trouble  arises  from  a  failure  of 
the  Forwarding  office  to  note  and  to  brief  the  report 
on  the  docket  or  claim  file  or  a  failure  of  the  correspond- 
ence clerk  to  read  and  note  the  true  status  of  the  claim 
before  writing.  It  is  this  sort  of  mistake  that  gets  the 
Receiving  lawyer  by  the  ear  and  causes  him  to  howl  over 
the  useless  letter  writing  he  is  put  to.  We  have  known 
offices  where  the  routine  of  asking  for  reports  was  left 
to  incompetent  clerks,  sometimes  short  trousered  boys 
or  gum-chewing  girls,  who  even  if  they  read  the  record, 
could  not  comprehend  what  sort  of  a  request  should  go 
out. 

Time  and  time  again  Receivers  are  asked  to  report 
on  claims  already  returned,  claims  paid  and  accounted 
for,  claims  filed  against  estates  where,  as  reports  already 
show,  nothing  can  be  expected  for  months  to  come. 
These  are  the  unhappy  things  that  turn  the  profession 
red  in  the  face  and  tend  to  make  this  branch  of  the 
practice  undesirable. 


80  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

However,  a  courteous  reply  to  even  the  most  out- 
rageous letter  is  a  paying  investment. 

Everything  the  Receiver  can  do  to  help  the  For- 
warder who  favors  him  with  his  business  to  retain  his 
business  connections  should  be  done.  They  are  in  a 
sense  partners,  for  if  A's  slowness  makes  B  loose  client 
C,  then  A  has  lost  client  C  who  goes  to  Forwarder  D 
with  his  busniess  who  employs  E,  whose  office  is  across 
the  street  from  A's.  Many  a  Forwarder  has  lost  a  val- 
ued client  because  that  Forwarder's  correspondent  has 
either  neglected  or  bungled  the  client's  interests,  or, 
what  more  often  happens,  because  the  client  can  not  get 
a  report  from  the  Forwarder  because  the  Forwarder 
can  not  get  one  from  his  correspondent. 

To  my  own  knowledge  this  occurred :  My  office,  in 
the  days  when  I  was  practicing,  sent  a  small  item  of 
business  to  a  New  Jersey  law  firm  for  D.  M.  Ferry  & 
Co.,  the  big  seed  house  in  Detroit.  The  law  firm  ac- 
knowledged receipt  of  the  claim  and  then  went  fishing. 
No  amount  of  inquiry  could  elicit  a  report.  Two  months 
rolled  by  and  to  my  pleased  surprise  the  seed  firm  came 
in  one  fine  morning  with  a  spanking  big  case  against 
a  seed  house  in  that  same  New  Jersey  town.  Did  our 
friends  in  the  former  case  get  the  grown-up  piece  of 
business?  You  get  the  answer.  Many  a  lawyer  has 
kept  his  postcard  or  his  postage  stamp  and  while  doing 
so  lost  what  would  pay  a  month's  rent  or  buy  his  wife 
that  dress  he  has  long  promised  her. 

It  is  well  to  fret  and  fume  because  every  body  doesn't 
do  just  right,  but  make  sure  you  do  the  thing  it  is  up 
to  you  to  do  and  do  it  promptly,  if  not  because  it  is 
always  pleasant,  then  because  it  is  always  profitable. 

A  lawyer  who  is  prompt  with  Forwarders  and  clients 
is  in  position  to  command  favors  in  the  way  of  more  and 
better  business,  a  wider  field  of  operation,  and  in  other 
ways.  He  soon  becomes  known  as  prompt  and  once 
that  knowledge  sticks  in  the  offices  of  the   Forwarders 


AND    HIS  WORK  81 

of  business  he  will  find  he  is  being  trusted  to  do  things 
when  he  ought  to  do  them  and  the  "nuisance"  of  fre- 
quent requests  for  reports  will  be  solved  for  he  will 
seldom  get  such  requests. 

As  to  promptness  in  doing  work  entrusted  to  him,  it 
goes  without  saying  that  this  must  ever  characterize  the 
successful  practitioner  of  this  and  every  other  specialty. 
I  lost  the  best  prospective  client  I  ever  had  by  putting 
off  for  twenty-four  hours  something  that  should  have 
been  done  at  once.  That  client  was  a  shrewd  business 
man.  He  saw  in  that  needless  proscrastination  that 
the  young  man  had  a  fault,  and,  while  nothing  was  said, 
a  second  piece  of  business  never  came  from  that  source. 

If  a  thing  cannot  be  done  when  it  is  due  to  be  done, 
the  client  should  be  informed  in  order  that,  first,  you 
may  appear  to  him  to  be  honest,  and,  second,  that  you 
may  be  comfortable  yourself,  and  not  be  accused  later 
of  neglect. 

Most  reasons  for  lack  of  promptness  given  by  men 
and  women  will  not  bear  analysis.  Some  people  dawdle 
over  their  work ;  some  fail  to  arrange  matters  orderly  ; 
some  are  lazy ;  some  are  constitutional  procrastinators 
and  don't  realize  it ;  some  are  sticklers  for  the  eight- 
hour  day  (who  ever  heard  of  an  eight-hour  day  for  a 
lawyer?)  ;  some  play  golf  and  some  politics.  When  a 
man  is  too  busy  to  do  his  w^ork  he  is  making  money  too 
fast ;  he  needs  somebody  to  take  his  work  away  from 
him,  and  somebody  will. 

Clients  never  desert  a  prompt  correspondent.  For- 
warders do  not  go  shopping  for  other  representatives  in 
his  town.     He  is  elected  for  life. 

An  important  consideration,  too,  is  this :  Forward- 
ers sometimes  put  up  indefinitely  with  an  unsatisfactory 
representative,  so  long  as  the  matters  they  have  to  send 
are  the  average,  every-day  sort  of  claims.  But  let  an 
extra  good  matter  come  along,  one  that  opens  the  eyes  of 
the  forwarding  clerk,  and  he  hesitates.  Here  is  something 


82  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

demanding  action.  Can  we  get  it  from  this  man? 
Then  there  runs  through  the  forwarder's  mind  his  long- 
continued,  laborious  efforts  to  get  little  matters  re- 
ported and  disposed  of.  The  managing  partner  is  called 
into  counsel.  Result,  the  good  item  goes  to  a  well-rec- 
ommended stranger. 

There  are  towns  and  cities  of  no  mean  size  where 
nobody  has  even  yet  found  a  good,  prompt  correspondent 
at  the  Bar.  Our  readers  would  be  surprised  were  we 
to  name  some  cities  we  have  in  mind  where  if  you  drop 
a  claim  anywhere  in  any  law  office  within  their  cor- 
porate limits  it  will  be  dead  to  the  outside  world  in  ten 
days.     Law  list  publishers  are  constantly  writing  me : 

"Can't  you  get  some  live  man  to  locate  in  ? 

There  is  not  an  attorney  in  the  town  with  any  idea  of 
the  requirements  of  the  commercial  work.  We  have 
tried  them  all  and  there  is  no  hope."  Yet  Martindale's 
American  Law  Directory  rates  scores  of  lawyers  as 
practicing  in  those  towns. 

Be  Courteous. 

Once  in  a  while  we  find  an  old  lawyer  who  exhibits 
the  delightful  manners  of  what  we  are  fond  of  calling 
"the  Southern  gentleman."  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  is  once 
in  a  while  only.  There  is  something  about  the  practice 
of  the  profession  that  hardens.  Old  lawyers  are  likely 
to  be  rigid,  austere  and  even  discourteous — particularly 
to  younger  members  of  the  profession. 

A  dear  memory  of  mine  is  that  of  an  old  Detroit 
lawyer,  William  A.  Moore.  It  was  he  who  held  out  a 
kind  hand  to  me  when  I  stepped  over  the  threshhold 
into  the  great,  untried  world  of  business.  It  was  not 
his  doing  this  that  pleased  me  so  much  as  it  was  the 
way  of  his  doing  it.  It  was  as  if  I  were  doing  him  a 
favor.  Then  for  twenty-five  years  there  came  a  friend- 
ship, wonderful  it  seemed  to  me.  There  was  always 
that  courteous  bow  and  sincere  hand  grasp,  that  beauti- 
ful simplicity  of  manner  and  expression  and  that  kindly 


AND    HIS  WORK  83 

affection.  I  have  gone  out  with  him  at  daybreak  from 
a  college  boy's  banquet,  and  he  75  years  of  age,  and  his 
only  regret  was  that  he  couldn't  sing  as  loud  as  they. 

He  kept  sweet  to  the  end.  His  life  became  a  fra- 
grant memory  with  hundreds  of  Michigan  lawyers.  I 
have  wished  a  thousand  times  I  had  cultivated  his 
virtues  in  myself.     But  perhaps  the  soil  wasn't  right. 

A  writer  in  the  Philadelphia  Ledger  says: 

"A  pleasing  manner  is  an  important  essential  to  suc- 
cess in  any  business.  A  gentle,  courteous  manner  will 
win  recognition  anywhere.  So  much  depends  upon  first 
impressions,  and  these  are  favorable  or  unfavorable 
according  to  whether  a  man  is  polite  and  courteous  or 
brusque  and  nervous  in  bearing. 

"We  cannot  always  judge  a  man  by  what  he  says  or 
does,  but  the  way  in  which  he  says  or  does  a  certain 
thing  will  prove  the  best  index  to  his  character. 

"A  pleasant,  courteous  bearing  will  help  a  man  to 
success  in  business  where  a  boorish,  impatient  manner 
will  turn  away  customers.  The  brusque  man  may  be 
as  well  meaning  as  his  more  affable  rival,  but  people 
have  not  the  time  nor  inclination  to  find  out  what  is 
beneath  the  rude  exterior;  they  prefer  to  patronize  the 
man  who  makes  it  plain  that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  serve; 
that  the  world  is  a  mighty  pleasant  place,  and  that  he  is 
glad  to  be  alive. 

"If  you  are  not  the  possessor  of  a  pleasant  manner, 
start  in  to  acquire  it.  You  will  find  it  an  immense  help 
in  making  a  success  of  anything  you  undertake." 

A  woman  left  to  support  herself  and  children  by  the 
death  of  her  husband,  applied  to  a  firm  for  employment. 

"What  can  you  do?"  she  was  asked. 

"I  can  write  a  polite  note,"  was  her  answer,  and  she 
was  employed,  for  the  firm  was  badly  in  need  of  a  polite 
letter  writer. 


84  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

It  is  a  difficult  matter,  I  am  told,  to  find  people  who 
can  answer  complaints  in  business  houses  in  a  way  to 
retain  custom. 

Instance  after  instance  can  be  quoted  of  young  men 
receiving  positions  and  advancement  by  reason  of  their 
courtesy  under  all  conditions. 

We  often  hear  of  the  courtesies  that  characterized 
the  lawyer  of  the  South  in  the  "palmy  days."  There 
must  be  much  of  truth  in  the  stories,  because  so  many 
are  told. 

Sitting  in  the  lobby  of  my  hotel  in  Detroit  a  few 
years  ago,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  man  who 
formerly  lived  in  southern  Missouri.  An  act  of  dis- 
courtesy we  had  witnessed  diverted  our  conversation 
into  this  channel.  Not  know^ing  that  I  professed  to  be 
a  lawyer,  he  exclaimed :  "The  legal  profession  used  to 
be  distinguished  for  its  high-toned  courtesy.  What  has 
become  of  it?  Why,  sir,  I  can  remember  back  in  my 
early  life  in  Missouri,  the  court  days  when  the  lawyers 
came  to  town,  and  I  shall  never  get  over  the  impression 
they  left  upon  me.  The  figure  of  the  typical  Missouri 
lawyer  was  tall  and  slender.  He  took  pride  in  a  lux- 
uriant growth  of  hair.  He  wore  a  broad-brimmed  hat 
of  good  material,  a  Prince  Albert  coat  and  the  looks  of 
a  dandy.  When  he  came  into  court,  removed  his  hat, 
ran  his  fingers  through  his  flowing  locks  and  with  a 
bow,  refined  and  courtly,  acknowledged  the  presence  of 
his  fellows,  you  felt  you  were  in  the  presence  of  some- 
thing fine,  and,  if  later  you  saw  him  in  the  trial  of  a  case, 
graceful,  courteous,  never  losing  his  poise,  eloquent  and 
impressive,  you  were  won  to  him  instinctively  and  irre- 
vocably.    Where  are  such  lawyers  now?" 

I  reflected  for  a  moment,  called  up  the  figures  of  men 
I  had  known  at  the  bar,  recalled  the  court  scenes  in 
which  I  had  either  been  a  participant  or  an  observer,  and 
I  feebly  answered :     "Your  question  answers  itself." 

Brothers,   it   is   a   matter  you   and   I   need   to   think 


AND    HIS  WORK  85 

about.  Are  we  among  the  few  about  whom  clings  the 
aroma  of  old-time  courtesy.  Are  we  to  be  numbered 
among  the  men  who  will  be  remembered  for  our  gentle- 
ness, our  consideration,  our  graciousness.  Do  we  be- 
long to  the  aristocracy  of  manners,  or  are  we  of  the 
great  majority  who  have  neither  the  inbred  nor  acquired 
manners  of  the  cultured  gentleman? 

It  is,  indeed,  rare  to  find  a  man  holding  on  to  this 
precious  quality  of  courtesy  through  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  a  busy  life.  I  have  a  friend  in  the  profession  who 
twenty  years  ago  was  the  quintessence  of  courtesy,  but 
he  has  moved  into  the  great  city  and  has  been  fighting 
for  place,  and  now  his  letters,  while  reflecting  at  times 
some  of  the  old  nicety  of  tone  and  color  that  made  one 
feel  rich  in  their  possession,  jangle  like  a  harp  out  ot 
tune;  one  can  see  and  feel  in  them  the  hurry  and  the 
worry,  the  scowl  and  the  frown.  It  is  a  pity.  It's  like 
going  out  into  the  garden  some  fine  morning  and  seeing 
the  roses  on  your  favorite  bush  which  when  you  left 
them  the  evening  before  held  glory  and  sweetness  in 
their  gorgeous  petals,  all  drawn  and  withered  by  the 
frost,  leaving  but  a  memory  in  your  saddened  heart. 

If  I  had  my  choice  of  one  human  quality  that  should 
go  with  me  to  the  last  it  would  be  that  of  courtesy,  for 
true  courtesy  not  only  voices  itself  in  joy  to  others,  but 
it  embraces  within  itself  everything  needful  to  man  him- 
self. 

Where,  I  ask  again,  are  the  ease  and  dignity  of  man- 
ner, the  old  professional  ideals,  the  fertility  of  diction, 
the  versatility  of  talent  that  characterized  the  lawyer  of 
the  olden  time? 

Church,  Fraternity,  Society. 

I  am  going  to  treat  this  subject  in  narrative  form. 
I  will  give  it  a  sub-title,  "Stories  Out  of  My  Own  Life." 
Pardon  the  first  person  singular  that  appears  so  often. 

]\Iy  first  two  years  in  practice  was  in  St.  Paul.  I 
went  there  a  young  man  of  twenty-three.     The  only  St. 


86  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Paul  men  I  knew  when  I  alighted  from  the  train,  a 
stranger  in  a  strange  land,  was  a  plumber,  with  whom 
I  had  playmated  back  in  Ohio,  and  the  mature  lawyer 
who  had  offered  me  a  partnership— himself  a  resident  of 
St.  Paul  but  a  short  time.  We  had  during  our  first 
months  little  business.  I  boarded  at  a  modest  hotel. 
The  proprietor  took  a  fancy  to  me — so  did  his  daughter. 
They  both  insisted  that  I  join  their  lodge  (or  father's). 
I  had  seen  some  of  the  brethren  and  was  not  tempted  be- 
yond endurance,  until  my  board  bill  got  so  large  I  could 
not  refuse.  I  joined.  I  found  myself  in  a  polyglot 
crowd,  the  character  of  which  beggars  description.  I 
had  just  come  from  college,  where  I  had  taken  a  brass 
medal  for  oratory.  As  bad  luck  would  have  it,  I  had  to 
make  a  talk  to  the  lodge.  That  settled  it ;  I  must  be 
given  an  office.  So  I  was  made  some  kind  of  a  royal 
stick-bearer  and  given  a  throne.  I  found  I  was  the  only 
lawyer  in  the  crowd.  If  I  had  been  a  queen  bee  in  a 
regular  hive  I  could  not  have  been  more  popular,  and 
the  popularity  slopped  over  into  my  law  office  until  my 
staid  old  partner  wanted  to  know  what  sort  of  a  game  I 
was  running,  with  all  the  peddlers,  second-hand  dealers, 
broken-down  Seventh  street  merchants  and  their  wives 
and  relatives  running  to  me  with  their  troubles  and 
without  money.  I  said :  "D.  V.,  I'll  make  another 
start."  I  gave  up  my  throne,  resigned  my  membership 
and  resolved  that  lodges  were  not  the  stepping  stone  by 
which  I  should  rise  to  fame  and  fortune. 

Long  afterwards  I  went  into  Masonry,  but  it  was 
after  my  feet  had  strayed  from  the  paths  of  the  law  and 
into  those  of  journalism,  so  I  cannot  say  what  Masonry 
might  have  done  for  me.  I  know  it  brought  me  into 
close  and  intimate  relationship  with  hundreds  of  busi- 
ness men,  and  anything  that  does  this  is  worth  while. 
It  should  be  said,  however,  that  Masonic  rules  deny  en- 
trance to  the  order  to  an  applicant  who  joins  for  selfish 
motives. 


AND    HIS  WORK  87 

The  best  piece  of  business  our  firm  had,  and  it  took  a 
Supreme  Court  decision  to  settle  it,  came  to  me  from  a 
college  fraternity  brother,  Frank  H.  Scott,  then  of  Ham- 
line,  Scott  &  Lord  of  Chicago.  I  called  on  Scott  as  I  was 
passing  through  Chicago  on  my  way  to  locate  in  St. 
Paul.  We  had  been  fellow-members  of  the  Beta  Theta 
Pi  Fraternity,  though  he  was  a  Wisconsin  man  and  I  a 
Buckeye.  A  few  months  later  he  sent  me  this  piece  of 
litigation.     It  brought  a  large  fee.     The  fraternity  did  it. 

The  next  largest  item  of  business  we  had  was  in  con- 
nection with  the  failure  of  a  large  vehicle  house  in  St. 
Paul.  Its  managing  partner  was  a  fellow-worshiper 
with  my  partner  in  a  Congregational  church.  The 
church  did  it. 

I  was  not  much  on  church  myself,  but  I  loved  music 
and  worked  at  it  a  little.  Led  by  some  musical 
friends  I  became  interested  in  a  young  church  that 
needed  a  little  amateur  musical  talent.  The  big  man  in 
the  church  was  a  Mr.  Bushnell,  a  splendidly  energetic 
fellow,  at  the  head  of  a  transfer  and  storage  company, 
with  a  great  and  growing  business.  My  widow's  mite 
in  the  way  of  a  feeble  baritone  went  to  Bushnell's  heart, 
so  that  one  day  he  asked :  "Sprague,  how  is  business 
coming"  "Well,  I  don't  have  to  work  nights,"  I  said. 
"Come  over  and  see  me,"  he  rejoined.  In  due  time  I 
came  over  and  I  corraled  some  fine  business.  The 
church  did  it. 

When  I  moved  to  Detroit  I  happened  to  rent  an 
apartment  just  opposite  a  church.  Straying  in  one 
morning,  I  was  so  kindly  treated  I  decided  to  enlist.  I 
did  not  know  at  the  time  that  some  of  the  strongest 
lawyers  in  the  city  were  members  of  the  church,  and 
that  such  great  business  men  as  the  secretary  of  D.  M. 
Ferry  &  Co.,  the  president  of  the  Detroit  Safe  Company, 
the  secretary  of  the  Banner  Tobacco  Company  and  the 
secretary  of  the  Michigan  Wire  and  lorn  Works,  the 
presidents  of  several  banks  were  pillars  in  the   taber- 


88  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

nacle.  A  year  or  two  rolled  on.  The  church  moved  into 
a  splendid  new  edifice  on  Woodward  avenue.  I  had 
gained  many  friends  by  doing  my  little  "bit"  here  and 
there  in  church  and  Sunday  school,  never  with  an  eye  to 
business,  cross  my  heart,  but  always  because  by  nature 
I  had  to  be  doing  things. 

The  night  before  the  dedication  of  the  new  church 
the  proud  parishioners  were  roaming  about  beneath  the 
beautiful  lights,  treading  reverently  the  elegant  carpets, 
reminiscing  of  past  days  in  the  old  edifice  and  compar- 
ing the  simplicity  of  the  first  days  with  the  wonders  of 
the  latter.  I  was  among  them,  as  proud  as  any  one.  I 
had  stretched  my  financial  abilities,  too,  as  all  had,  to 
help  pay  for  it.  I  wandered  into  the  Sunday  school  room 
and  happened  upon  C.  C.  Bowen,  a  deacon  and  trustee 
and  a  near-millionaire.  He  had  a  quick,  nervous  way  of 
talking.  "Sprague,"  he  said,  "that  old  piano  doesn't  look 
right  in  here.  I  said,  "No,  Mr.  Bowen,  it  is  out  of  place. 
We  should  have  a  new  piano."  Thinking  a  moment, 
he  flashed,  "Come  with  me."  In  two  minutes  we  were 
in  a  street  car  going  up  Woodward  avenue.  Hardly  a 
word  was  spoken.  I  was  too  young  and  too  modest  to 
venture.  He  was  too  absorbed  in  his  purpose.  We 
alighted  at  the  door  of  his  beautiful  home,  went  in  and 
straight  to  the  music  room.  "Sit  down  and  try  that 
one."  He  was  pointing  to  his  own  elegant  Steinway 
grand.  I  did  not  need  to  try  it.  I  gasped  an  excuse. 
He  insisted.  I  played  "Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee,"  or 
something  appropriate,  and  said :  "Mr.  Bowen,  you  cer- 
tainly do  not  intend  to  send  this  piano  to  the  church?" 
"It  will  be  there  in  the  morning,"  he  said,  and  it  was. 

But  the  best  part  of  this  story  is  to  come.  On  the 
way  back  to  the  church  Mr.  Bowen  said :  "How  are  you 
getting  along  in  your  business?"  I  said,  "Fine,"  and, 
correcting  myself,  added,  "Considering  that  I  have  been 
in  the  city  so  short  a  time,  and  with  no  backing.  "I  am 
sure   I   emphasized  the  word   "backing."     After   a  mo- 


AND    HIS  WORK  89 

merit's  pause  the  hoped-for  came :     "I  might  do  some- 
thing to  help  along.     Come  and  see  me." 

Without  indecent  haste  I  found  myself  in  the  inner 
sanctum  of  the  greatest  seed  house  on  earth,  and  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  successful  enterprises  of  the 
country  in  any  line.  Within  thirty  days  I  was  on  a 
train  headed  for  Dallas,  Texas,  with  a  commission  to 
settle  a  boycott  against  Ferry  seeds  being  waged  in  every 
Farmers'  Alliance  store  in  the  south  and  the  west,  due 
to  an  unfortunate  letter  written  by  some  one  in  the  seed 
firm's  office — a  letter  misstating  the  attitude  of  the  firm 
toward  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  at  that  time  a  powerful 
organization  in  the  southern  and  western  parts  of  the 
country.  I  was  given  carte  blanche  and  told  to  stay 
till  I  succeeded.  At  the  end  of  two  weeks  my  work  was 
done  and  the  boycott  lifted  by  the  action  of  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Alliance  at  Dallas.  A  few  months  later 
I  was  in  the  office  of  Dill,  Chandler  &  Seymour,  a  great 
New  York  law  firm,  representing  at  a  hearing  before  a 
referee  the  interests  of  D.  M.  Ferry  &  Co.,  the  Banner 
Tobacco  Co.,  the  Lansing  Iron  Works,  and  so  it  went. 
My  office  after  that  never  was  without  employment 
from  the  big  seed  house.    The  church  did  this. 

I  taught  a  bible  class  in  this  church,  composed  of 
mature  women,  some  of  them  grandmothers.  One  of 
these  women  thought  I  knew  more  about  the  Bible  than 
did  the  men  who  wrote  it.  Her  husband  told  me  so 
one  day  and  said  if  I  knew  as  much  law  as  I  did  Bible 
he  would  employ  me.  I  said,  "try  it,"  and  he  did.  So 
it  came  about  that  I  represented  for  several  years  the 
Banner  Tobacco  Company  of  Detroit.  The  church  did 
it.  In  this  same  class  was  a  miserly  old  woman  with 
no  relations.  She  was  about  to  die  and  sent  for  me  to 
draw  her  will.  To  my  surprise  she  wanted  to  leave  me 
some  of  her  money.  I  put  aside  the  crown  and  had  the 
money  go  to  charity — though  the  Lord  knows  I  needed 
it.    I  got  a  fee.    The  church  did  this. 


90  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

But  I  fear  I  am  boring  you.  The  point  I  want  to 
make  is  that  it  pays  to  belong  to  something,  and  I  do 
not  want  to  have  to  argue  it. 

Let  me  caution  you  that  in  the  relations  that  brought 
the  business  I  have  described,  and  much  more  besides, 
I  was  not  acting  a  part.  I  was  not  trying  to  conceal 
a  purpose  to  work  men  and  women  for  business  under 
the  cloak  of  religion.  I  would  have  despised  myself 
had  the  thought  entered  my  mind  in  those  days.  My 
father  was  a  good  Baptist  deacon,  and  church-going 
during  the  greater  part  of  my  life — particularly  in  my 
twenties,  thirties  and  forties — was  a  settled  habit.  I 
got  what  came  to  me  by  being  in  the  way  of  it  and  not 
going  out  of  my  normal  way  to  get  it. 

A  general  caution  should  be  interjected  here.  Mere- 
ly belonging  to  societies  and  groups  of  people  is  no  way 
to  win.  One  must  be  active,  show  capabilities,  enthu- 
siasm, earnestness  in  the  cause ;  in  other  words,  become 
more  or  less  a  leader,  conspicuous,  though  not  necessar- 
ily forward  or  showy.  As  I  look  back  on  my  early 
years  in  the  practice  I  see  how  naturally  I  got  business 
from  society  sources.  It  was  because  I  never  went  into 
anything  but  what  I  took  an  oar  and  helped  pull,  and, 
being  young,  vigorous,  temperamental,  I  pulled  to  good 
effect.  This  brought  friends  and  good  opinion  and  the 
rest  followed.  Naturally,  they  said,  if  he  is  thus  active 
and  successful  in  these  matters  he  must  be  so  in  his 
business.  This  all  sounds  too  personal  as  I  read  it, 
but  I  let  it  go  because  it  is  a  leaf  from  real  life,  and  life 
beats  theory. 

Every  society  presents  opportunities  to  its  mem- 
bers to  be  seen  and  heard.  There  is  debate,  parliamen- 
tary tangles,  committee  work,  matters  requiring  advice 
and  counsel,  interpretation  of  laws  and  scores  of  cir- 
cumstances to  bring  out  individual  talent.  The  lawyer 
who,  in  such  gatherings  shows  a  clear  head,  a  clever, 
adroit  or  tactful  mind,  a  diplomatic  genius,  a  grasp  of 


AND    HIS  WORK  91 

the  essentials  and,  particularly,  a  working  knowledge 
of  parliamentary  law,  has  a  unique  opportunity  to  dis- 
play his  wares  in  a  manner  entirely  ethical  and  proper. 

In  joining  societies  and  groups  be  sure  that  the  so- 
ciety or  group  is  composed  of  people  worth  while  know- 
ing. The  Commercial  Lawyer  needs  to  be  known  to 
men  of  affairs,  not  men  of  the  dependent  class  or  the 
idling  class,  but  to  men  of  the  productive,  independent 
class  that  control  business.  Such  organizations  are 
chambers  of  commerce,  high-class  clubs,  trade  organiza- 
tions, civic  bodies,  churches,  some  fraternities  (not  all), 
rotary  clubs  and  others  like  these  in  that  within  their 
borders  congregate  the  real,  substantial  men  of  the 
town. 

But  eschew  the  purely  polite  society,  the  diletante 
circles,  the  pink  tea  variety.  Being  known  as  a  choir 
singer,  the  best  dancer  in  town,  the  Beau  Brummel,  the 
favorite  ladies'  man,  gets  the  lawyer  no  place  that  we 
dare  mention. 

Never  advertise  in  your  society  that  you  are  a  law- 
yer. Advertise  yourself  as  an  earnest,  intelligent,  like- 
able fellow,  and  those  about  you  may  be  depended  on 
to  find  out  your  business.  The  man  who  enters  the 
room  announcing  "See,  a  lawyer  approaches,"  is  going 
to  find  a  wide  path  through  to  the  door  beyond.  I  used 
to  know  a  man  who,  on  being  introduced  to  a  stranger, 
could  not  talk  five  minutes,  indeed  scarcely  utter  a  dozen 
sentences,  ere  something  reminded  him  of  a  case  he  once 
had  in  judge  so-and-so's  court.  Such  a  man  deceives 
himself.  He  is  making  an  impression,  but  it  is  on  the 
wrong  side. 

Acquaintances. 

A  Commercial  Lawyer's  acquaintance  is  his  capital 
to  a  large  extent.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  larger 
the  acquaintance  the  larger  the  employment  or  the 
chances  of  employment.  It  behooves  the  Commercial 
Lawyer,  whose  success  so  much  depends  on  volume  of 


92  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

business,  since  his  fees  on  the  average  item  on  his  docket 
are  small,  to  cultivate  every  opportunity  to  make  and 
keep  acquaintances. 

In  this  connection  the  ability  to  remember  names 
and  faces  is  a  priceless  talent.  It  can  be  cultivated  and 
it  can  be  lost.  Years  ago  I  scarcely  ever  fell  down  on 
a  name  and  a  face.  Now  I  must  sometimes  be  intro- 
duced to  myself.  I  know  a  man  who  never  meets  a 
stranger  that  he  does  not  jot  the  name  down  in  his  note 
book  with  a  statement  of  where  and  when  he  met  him 
and  a  word  as  to  how  they  met  and  what  they  talked 
about.  He  was  an  insurance  agent  with  the  biggest 
personal  acquaintance  in  the  city.  No  wonder!  It 
would  do  no  harm  to  try  the  plan.  The  mere  writing 
of  the  name  helps  fix  it.  An  occasional  thumbing  over 
of  the  leaves  perpetuates  the  impression.  It  is  a  fine 
thing  to  have  a  man  you  met  casually  say  to  you  six 
months  after,  "How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Smith?  How  is 
that  matter  coming  on  you  told  me  about?"  Smith 
wonders  and  then  holds  his  head  a  little  higher  to  think 
he  had  made  so  lasting  an  impression  on  a  man  of  the 
street  that  six  months  after  an  introduction  his  name 
was  not  only  recalled,  but  his  business  affairs.  A  man 
spoke  to  me  in  the  LaSalle  hotel  in  Chicago  the  other 
day — just  ran  against  me  as  I  was  going  out  the  door. 
"How  do  you  do,  Sprague."  I  turned,  took  his  hand,  and 
a  million  dollars  was  as  far  away  from  me  as  his  name 
and  face.  And  even  after  he  told  me  his  name  I  could 
not  place  him.  Yet,  after  ten  years,  he  recognized  me 
at  once  and  called  up  matters  of  unusual  interest.  I 
was  flattered.  I  felt  it.  I  was  humiliated,  ashamed  that 
I  had  to  confess  by  my  manner  that  he  had  passed  out 
of  my  life. 

Make  acquaintances  and  remember  them.  Go  where 
men  are — the  right  kind  of  men.  Be  a  man  among 
them,  joining  in  their  work  and  recreation  as  a  good 
fellow,  but  at  the  same   time  a  self-respecting  fellow. 


AND    HIS  WORK  93 

Meet  men  on  the  level — none  too  high  for  you,  none 
too  low  unless  at  the  same  time  base.  Be  a  good  hand- 
shaker and  let  the  grip  mean  something.  Be  an  opti- 
mist, so  that  men  will  be  glad  of  your  comradeship.  Be 
a  good  listener,  but  be  ready  when  your  time  comes. 
Have  convictions,  but  don't  be  a  bigot  or  a  partisan. 

Parliamentary  Law. 

The  lawyer  in  city  or  country  who  mingles  with  men 
and  joins  with  them  in  organized  work  or  play  of  any 
sort  should  be  a  good  parliamentarian.  There  are  so 
few  experts  in  this  line  that  the  man  capable  in  this 
direction  is  a  marked  man  and  largely  sought  for  leader- 
ship. 

At  the  first  convention  of  the  C.  L.  L.  A.,  a  slight, 
black-eyed,  black-haired,  nervous  lawyer  was  among 
those  who  came  from  the  south.  The  convention  was 
not  a  day  on  its  way  ere  Ernest  T.  Florance  of  New 
Orleans  was  known  to  over  400  men  and  women  pres- 
ent, ninety-nine  per  cent  of  whom  were  strangers  to  him 
the  day  before,  as  the  parliamentarian  of  the  conven- 
tion, so  that  in  the  closing,  turbulent  hours  of  the  meet- 
ing, with  the  presiding  officer  much  of  the  time  on  the 
floor  engaged  in  the  tussle  of  debate,  and  a  strong  hand 
was  needed  at  the  gavel,  Mr.  Florance  was  asked  to 
preside.  In  a  very  few  years  he  became  president  of 
the  League.  Few  men  attracted  so  favorable  atten- 
tion in  League  and  American  Bar  Association  meet- 
ings as  did  ]\Ir.  Florance,  because  of  his  keen,  accurate 
and  forceful  presentation   of  a  parliamentary   situation. 

In  1897  the  National  Association  of  Credit  ]\Ien  met 
at  Kansas  City.  It  was  presided  over  by  a  fine  man, 
but  a  child  in  the  matter  of  presiding  over  a  delibera- 
tive body.  One  afternoon  he  became  so  involved  he 
called  another  to  the  chair.  This  man  in  turn  failed  to 
unravel  the  tangle.  In  the  back  of  the  hall  a  young 
credit  man  from  New  York  arose  and  in  clear,  well 
spoken  English  showed  the  crowd  just  where  they  were. 


94  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

It  took  not  many  minutes  to  put  William  A.  Prender- 
gast  in  the  chair.  A  little  later  he  became  national  sec- 
retary of  the  Credit  Men's  Association,  and  later  comp- 
troller of  the  city  of  New  York.  He  nominated  Mr. 
Roosevelt  at  the  last  national  republican  convention. 
He  has  been  a  candidate  for  congress,  but  on  the  losing 
ticket.  I  have  always  traced  his  success  back  to  that 
day  in  Kansas  City  when  in  an  instant  he  stepped  over 
the  heads  of  hundreds  of  his  fellows  and  went  to  the 
front — and  to  stay. 

In  the  average  town  meeting  a  working  knowledge 
of  parliamentary  law  on  the  part  of  any  one  is  rare. 
The  lawyer,  particularly  the  young  lawyer,  has  here  a 
quick  way  to  win. 

Acquaintance  Away  from  Home. 

As  a  large  part  of  the  Commercial  Lawyer's  work  is 
as  attorney  for  non-residents  it  stands  to  reason  that  a 
wide  acquaintance  abroad  is  desirable.  The  more  near- 
ly personal  this  is  the  better.  How  shall  he  get  it? 
First,  by  so  conducting  his  work  and  his  correspondence 
that  non-resident  people  whom  he  serves  may  want  to 
meet  him  and  may  want  others  to  meet  him.  Second, 
by  getting  away  from  the  hard  stereotyped  forms  of  let- 
ter writing  and  injecting  a  little  of  the  personal  and  hu- 
man element  into  his  correspondence.  Third,  by  mak- 
ing periodic  visits  to  business  centers  and  calling  on 
those  whom  he  has  a  right  to  expect  will  be  glad  to 
take  his  hand.  Fourth,  by  attending  the  meetings  of 
his  profession — local,  county,  state  and  national  and  en- 
tering with  enthusiasm  into  their  social  and  business 
functions,  making  himself  known  by  his  gentlemanly, 
approachable  qualities  and  his  decently  aggressive  ef- 
forts to  be  of  service. 

There  is  no  place  conceivable  that  is  better  fitted  for 
the  making  by  the  Commercial  Lawyer  of  desirable  ac- 
quaintances  than   is   a   convention   of   the    Commercial 


AND    HIS  WORK  05 

Law  League  of  America.  True,  I  have  seen  some  men 
return  home  from  one  of  these  conventions  poorer  in 
influence  and  business  than  when  they  started  out, 
but  that  was  because  of  an  unpleasing  personality  or 
too  convivial  disposition  or  a  faculty  for  boring;  but 
thousands  of  League  convention  attendants  will  say 
"yea,  verily,"  to  my  assertion  that  they  can  trace  their 
whole  success  in  Commercial  Law  work  to  League  con- 
ventions. In  these  conventions  gather  the  representa- 
tive men  of  the  forwarding  and  receiving  end  of  the 
business.  They  meet  to  get  acquainted.  Somewhat 
unlike  the  average  bar  meeting,  the  League's  meetings 
are  great  family  gatherings,  where  there  is  more  calling 
by  Christian  names  than  in  any  sort  of  national  gather- 
ing I  have  ever  known.  There  are  hundreds  of  League 
men  who,  by  reason  of  their  convention-made  friends, 
could  travel  from  Maine  to  California  and  the  lakes  to 
the  gulf  and  on  the  average  of  once  an  hour  drop  off 
the  train  and  borrow  money.  Some  day  I  am  going  to 
try  it. 

When  you  have  the  opportunity,  drop  in  on  the  leading 
Commercial  Lawyers  of  the  cities  that  cater  to  the  trade 
of  your  town.  Introduce  yourself.  Don't  ask  for  busi- 
ness. That  is  not  necessary.  Get  acquainted.  Be 
brief;  leave  a  good  impression.  Remember  the  call. 
Some  may  question  this  as  being  seriously  near  solicit- 
ing, but  it  is  allowable  to  a  degree.  The  man  you  call 
on  will  in  most  cases  be  as  glad  to  meet  you  as  you  are 
to  meet  him.  If  he  knows  his  business  he  appreciates 
an  added  acquaintance  as  much  as  you  do.  Never  go 
with  a  begging  air  or  a  begging  message,  or  present  a 
card  that  touts  so  loud  it  disturbs  the  office.  Meet  the 
forwarding  partner  or  clerk;  ask  to  see  how  he  keeps  his 
records.  Be  interested  in  his  work.  Never  mind  your 
own.     That  will  take  care  of  itself. 

System  in  Work. 

System  cuts  so  big  a  figure  in  the  race  that  we  de- 


96  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

vote  special  attention  to  it  on  other  pages.  Suffice  it 
to  say  here  that  lack  of  system  is  so  apparent,  where  the 
condition  exists,  that  it  cannot  be  concealed.  The  ex- 
perienced Forwarder  has  the  unsystematic  Receiver  spot- 
ted at  the  start.  One  cannot  win  in  the  midst  of  disor- 
der, confusion,  chaos.  The  day  of  the  lawyer  who  car- 
ried his  papers  in  his  hat  or  filed  them  under  a  paper 
weight  has  gone  by — aut  system,  aut  nil. 
Stationery. 

The  Commercial  Lawyer  who  seldom  meets  his  con- 
stituency is  known  to  them  only  by  what  he  does  as 
described  on  sheets  of  white  paper.  These  sheets  of 
white  paper  with  their  marks  photograph  their  sender 
and  they  do  it  accurately.  They  describe  how  much  or 
how  little  he  has  of  order,  judgment,  taste,  care  in  de- 
tails, patience,  energy,  directness,  force,  learning,  tact, 
courtesy,  ability  and  the  whole  round  of  business  quali- 
ties. The  very  type,  wording  and  arrangement  of  the 
letter-head  shouts  approval  or  condemnation  of  him,  A 
business  letter  on  plain  paper  without  a  letter-head  is 
a  danger  sign.  More  and  more  rare  is  the  billboard 
style  of  advertising  everything  from  law  suits  won  to 
washing  taken  in.  But  you  still  see  it.  Not  so  rare  is 
the  letter-head  that  tries  to  make  an  argument  for  itself 
by  clumsily  worded  announcements  of  special  facilities, 
special  knowledge,  special  inducements. 

The  engraved  letter-head,  good  paper,  and  the  plain 
business  card  giving  firm  name,  profession  as  "Attor- 
neys at  Law,"  location,  name  of  partners,  telephone 
number,  telegraph  or  cable  code  address  if  any,  are  win- 
ners. The  paper  cannot  be  too  good,  the  type  style 
too  plain  and  tasteful,  the  engraving  too  clear  and  attrac- 
tive. Such  letter-heads  strike  you  as  does  a  well,  but 
not  overdressed,  man.  You  at  once  recognize  a  gentle- 
man of  parts.  He  may  not  be  that,  but  the  chances  are 
he  is. 

The    smaller   the   business    the    less    conspicuous    the 


AND    HIS  WORK  97 

location,  the  more  impressive  a  good  letter-head  is.  We 
might  expect  it  from  a  high-class  firm  in  New  York  or 
Chicago,  but  such  a  letter-head  from  a  lawyer  in  Po- 
dunk,  Texas,  makes  one  "sit  up  and  take  notice."  I 
would  say  in  such  a  case  that  either  here  must  be  a 
good  man  gone  astray,  or  Podunk  must  be  more  of  a 
place  than  the  census  indicates.  You  at  once  think 
more  even  of  Podunk.  You  wonder  that  a  man  of  this 
man's  fine  taste  and  good  breeding  has  not  blossomed 
elsewhere.  You  don't  think  him  foolish.  You  rather 
admire  his  nerve. 

Now,  the  difiference  between  doing  a  thing  right  and 
doing  it  wrong  is  so  slight  and  the  difference  in  results 
is  so  manifest  and  so  important  I  cannot  understand  why 
there  is  not  more  attention  given  the  letter-head.  A 
letter-head  before  me  recently  described  the  owner  as 
"council."  I  do  not  know  whether  he  can  practice 
law  successfully.  He  certainly  can't  spell.  If  you  were 
to  meet  all  your  clients  some  day  in  conference  you 
would  not  go  in  your  neglige  or  in  careless,  unkempt  at- 
tire. You  are  going  to  meet  business  men  from  the  great 
cities,  prosperous,  well-groomed  business  men — men 
who  are  accustomed  to  observing  and  judging  men. 
You,  of  course,  want  to  make  a  good  impression.  Well, 
in  your  correspondence  throughout  the  year  you  are 
meeting  these  clients.  Your  letters  are  your  proxy. 
Your  letter-head  is  going  into  scores  of  the  great  offices 
of  the  country  to  lie  on  mahogany  desks,  to  be  handled 
by  well  groomed  men  of  affairs,  to  be  compared  under 
the  pitiless  light  of  day  with  scores  of  other  letter- 
heads— unconsicously  so,  but  really  so.  Do  you  want 
to  get  rated  by  the  showing  you  make?  It  is  a  small 
matter  and  it  isn't  a  small  matter.  Impressions  count. 
Shabby  clothes,  if  you  can  buy  better,  are  a  sign  of 
character  and  injure  you.  Just  so  with  that  letter-head. 
If  it  is  shabby,  and  you  can  buy  better,  it  disgraces 
you  and  injures  you. 


98  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

What  I  have  said  of  letter-heads  applies  to  business 
cards. 

Letters. 

A  lawyer's  letters  even  more  than  his  letter-heads 
bespeak  his  character.  Much  I  have  said  as  to  the  lat- 
ter applies  to  the  former. 

Avoid  the  long-winded  letter  that  tells  in  paragraphs 
what  should  be  told  in  sentences  and  in  pages  what 
should  be  told  in  paragraphs.  This  sort  of  letter  peeves 
the  reader  and  often  for  that  reason  fails  to  gain  its 
purpose.  I  have  correspondents  whose  envelopes  I 
dread  to  open.  I  know  that  when  I  do  I  am  in  for  it. 
Learn  to  say  things  briefly  and  quit.  The  habit  is  a 
winner. 

Avoid  the  facetious,  smart-aleck  type  of  letters.  It 
belittles  the  subject  and  gives  the  idea  that  you  cannot 
be  serious.  This  sort  of  letter  does  not  impress  the 
reader  with  your  ability.     It  does  not  win. 

Avoid  the  abusive  letter.  It  gets  nothing  but  you 
yourself.  Hold  such  letters  when  written  till  you  have 
come  back  to  yourself.  No  matter  how  much  the  ob- 
ject needs  abuse,  don't  descend  to  the  level  of  the  com- 
mon scold.     Such  letters  react.     They  do  not  win. 

Avoid  writing  on  two  or  more  subjects  in  one  busi- 
ness communication.  Under  modern  systems  of  filing 
such  letters  give  great  trouble  to  filing  clerks  and 
are  a  general  nuisance,  for  often  the  several  matters 
must  have  the  attention  of  separate  departments.  De- 
lays ensue  while  the  one  letter  is  making  the  rounds. 

Avoid  over-worked  typewriter  ribbons,  poor  carbon 
paper,  broken  type,  untidy  erasures  and  everything  that 
gives  the  impression  of  indifference  or  lack  of  care.  A 
very  little  expense  of  time  and  money  is  required  to  en- 
able one  to  escape  criticism  in  this  respect. 

Study  the  letters  you  receive  from  high-class  firms 
in  order  to  get  a  pleasing  style  of  opening  and  closing, 
dating,    paragraphing,    spacing,    margining,    etc.     Once 


AND    HIS  WORK  99 

a  good  style  is  adopted  your  office  will  in  time  auto- 
matically adhere  to  it. 

It  is  a  joy  to  read  a  succinct,  well  constructed,  well 
composed  letter  written  on  a  good  machine,  with  a  good 
ribbon,  on  fine  paper,  embellished  with  a  dignified  head 
neatly  engraved.  Such  a  letter  breathes  tone,  charac- 
ter, responsibility,  worth,  self-respect  and  good  taste. 
It  means  care  and  ability  and  these  spell  success.  Not 
one  firm  in  a  dozen  rightly  appreciates  this  as  one  of  the 
ways  that  win. 

Remitting  Instalments. 

Every  one  will  agree  that  the  prompt  remitting  of 
money  collected  is  one  of  the  ways  that  win.  Prompt- 
ness in  this  respect  characterizes  the  successful  Com- 
mercial Lawyer,  but  not  every  one  realizes  the  advan- 
tage to  be  gained  from  remitting  partial  payments 
promptly  when  made.  The  business  advantage  to  the 
lawyer  lies  in  that  every  time  he  hands  his  client  a  check 
he  is  recommending  himself  in  the  most  positive  and 
unmistakable  terms.  A  check  is  the  best  solicitor  and 
practically  the  only  solicitor  the  lawyer  can  use.  The 
more  frequent  the  checks  the  more  powerful  the  solici- 
tation. A  hundred  dollar  item,  collected  ten  dollar  at 
a  time,  means  either  one  good  impression  on  the  client 
or  ten.  Which  is  preferable?  The  former  surely  is  not, 
for  while  the  lawyer  is  accumulating  money  in  his  own 
hands  the  client  is  not  getting  his  money  and  is  uneasy, 
even  though  he  may  know  and  understand  that  the 
claim  is  in  process  of  settlement.  Ten  checks  of  ten  dol- 
lars each,  less  fees,  means  ten  assurances  to  the  client 
that  you  are  looking  after  his  business  promptly  and  suc- 
cessfully, and  it  means,  too,  that  he  is  able  to  bank  the 
money  collected,  which  is  some  advantage  to  his  mind. 

Making  Remittances  Pay. 

A  lawyer  once  told  me  that  he  never  sent  a  remit- 
tance to  a  local  client  by  mail,  but  always  either  handed 
it  to  the  client  himself  or  through  a  messenger  from  his 


100  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

office  who  was  capable  of  talking  business.  His  reason 
was  that  at  no  time  is  a  client  in  so  amiable  a  mood  as 
when  you  are  handing  him  the  proceeds  of  a  doubtful 
claim.  Never  is  he  so  liberal,  so  free  with  his  favors, 
and  never  so  much  disposed  to  let  go  some  other  matter 
or  matters  that  are  ripening  for  the  law  office.  This 
often  occurs  when  the  check  changes  hands :  Turning 
to  the  bookkeeper  the  client  remarks,  "Jones,  how  about 
that  Scranton  account?  Had  we  better  not  let  Black- 
stone  do  a  little  urging  on  that?'  At  any  rate  it  always 
precipitates  talk  along  business  lines  and  this  ends  gen- 
erally in  employment.  The  lawyer  does  not  run  any 
risk  calling  on  his  clients.  They  like  it,  particularly  if 
he  has  results  to  report. 

In  remitting  money  by  mail  a  good  impression  can 
be  made  and  more  business  obtained  by  a  simple,  easily 
understood  statement  of  the  amount  collected  and  the 
amount  deducted,  with  all  credits  and  debits  itemized. 
A  bare  statement  that  herewith  will  be  found  check  for 
proceeds  of  collection,  less  fee  and  expense,  is  not 
enough.  This  makes  a  bad  impression.  The  client  is 
entitled  to  know  the  items  of  the  charge.  If  you  cannot 
see  the  client  personally  or  through  a  responsible  repre- 
sentative make  the  remittance  do  the  work  of  an  inter- 
view. Leave  the  client  no  question  to  ask.  Let  him 
feel,  when  he  receives  your  check,  satisfied  that  what  he 
holds  in  his  hand  is  all  that  he  is  entitled  to,  because  you 
have  made  the  transaction  plain.  If  he  has  in  mind  at 
the  time  another  matter  in  your  vicinity  be  sure  he  will 
think  of  you  in  connection  with  it. 

Attention  to  Small  Matters. 

Carlessness  and  indifference  as  to  the  fate  of  small 
matters  in  his  office  has  lost  to  a  lawyer  many  a  valuable 
client.  I  have  always  contended  that  the  Commercial 
Lawyer  was  in  duty  bound  to  consider  everything  ac- 
cepted by  him  by  way  of  employment  as  worthy  of  his 
faithful  attention.     If  it  is  worth  doing  at  all  it  is  worth 


AND    HIS  WORK  101 

doing  well.  No  matter  should  be  taken  into  the  office 
and  then  sidetracked  because  of  its  seeming  unimpor- 
tance. As  long  as  it  is  on  the  docket  it  is  worthy  of  the 
best  the  lawyer  can  do  for  it.  When  he  has  failed  with 
it,  he  should  return  it.  Many  a  client  has  judged  a 
lawyer  from  the  latter's  treatment  of  some  seemingly 
insignificant  matter.  I  always  dreaded  the  client  who 
said  to  me,  as  was  said  more  times  than  once,  I  have  a 
few  matters  here  I  want  you  to  try  and  make  something 
out  of.  I  knew  by  this  I  was  being  put  on  probation 
and  that  I  was  being  handed  a  few  lemons  with  the  juice 
sucked  out.  I  learned  to  know  that  it  was  not  so  much 
what  I  got  out  of  these  trial  matters  that  fixed  my  status 
with  the  client  as  it  was  my  willingness  to  handle  them 
and  the  spirit  I  displayed  in  doing  so.  I  recall  a  trial, 
and  it  was  a  real  one,  that  was  given  my  office  by  the 
Michigan  Malleable  Iron  Co.  of  Detroit.  They  had 
been  running  a  poor  quailty  of  iron.  Much  of  their 
product  would  not  stand  up  when  sold  and  in  use,  so 
that  hundreds  of  dollars  worth  was  returned  and  bills 
without  number  repudiated.  Some  of  these  bills, 
against  which  there  were  valid  defenses,  were  given  to 
me.  They  had  been  in  other  hands.  Others  had  dis- 
covered the  state  of  afifairs  and  laid  down  on  the  job. 
Not  so  with  me.  I  treated  each  one  individually,  fail- 
ing here  and  succeeding  there,  nearly  always  getting 
something,  until  the  client,  seeing  my  fidelity  in  these 
well-nigh  hopeless  cases,  began  to  give  me  good  employ- 
ment. It  is  the  old  idea  of  "faithful  in  few  things,  I 
will  make  thee  ruler  over  many,"  changed  to  "faithful 
in  small  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  large  things." 

Earle  W.  Evans  of  Vermillion,  Evans,  Carey  &  Lilies- 
tone  of  Wichita  told  me  once  that  one  of  the  firm's  great- 
est business  connections  came  from  an  insignificant  col- 
lection. There  is  not  a  Commercial  Lawyer  in  the  world 
that  has  not  a  like  story.  I  have  many  of  them.  De- 
spise not  the  day  of  small  things.   Wrapped  up  in  a  ten 


102  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

dollar  item  may  be  the  chances  of  employment  at  fees 
in  the  thousands.  No  lawyer  may  consider  himself 
bound  to  take  everything  that  comes,  but  when  he  takes 
a  matter  he  is  bound  by  every  rule  of  decency  to  attend 
to  it.  A  failure  to  do  so  is  a  way  to  lose;  a  conscientious 
and  continued  effort  on  an  insignificant  matter,  known 
to  the  client,  is  a  way  to  win. 

Obtaining  High-Class  List  Connections. 

So  large  a  proportion  of  the  commercial  business  of 
the  country  goes  over  lists  that  it  is  practically  impossi- 
ble to  obtain  a  commercial  business  without  having  a 
representation  in  some  of  these.  Care  should  be  taken 
in  the  selection  of  the  lists  and  judgment  used  in  the 
prices  paid  for  representation.  There  are  several  ways 
by  which  the  value  of  these  lists  may  be  learned.  A 
member  of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  is 
privileged  to  draw  on  the  records  of  the  League,  where 
an  accurate  estimate  is  compiled  from  reports  made  on 
the  lists  by  all  the  members  once  every  two  years.  A 
non-member  of  the  League  cannot  do  this. 

A  non-member  of  the  League  may  be  subscribing  to 
the  service  of  one  or  more  of  several  men  in  New  York 
who  describe  themselves  and  their  business  as  "attorney 
to  attorneys,"  or  words  to  that  effect,  and  through  them 
obtain  expert  advice  as  to  the  value  of  any  particular 
list. 

A  non-League  member  may  require  before  accepting 
list  representation  that  he  be  told  the  name  of  the  law- 
yer in  his  town  whom  he  is  to  succeed  in  the  represen- 
tation, if  any  one.  Inquiry  of  this  gentleman  may  elicit 
valuable  information,  though  not  always  unbiased. 

The  names  of  the  law  lists  roughly  classified  will  be 
found  on  a  later  page,  as  well  as  additional  treatment 
of  the  subject  of  law  lists. 
Representation  of  the  Best  Agencies. 

A  representation  of  the  better  class  agencies  that 
control  business  in  the  lawyer's  territory  should  be  ob- 


AND    HIS  WORK  103 

tained.  The  names  of  both  lawyers  and  agencies  that 
control  ninety  per  cent  of  the  country's  business  are 
given  in  later  pages  of  this  book.  In  no  case 
should  the  lawyer  who  aims  to  be  professional  in  his 
conduct  pay  for  such  representation,  under  any  sort  of 
guise.  It  is  buying  business — nothing  more  or  less. 
Representation  of  R.  G.  Dun  &  Co.,  the  Credit  Clearing 
House,  some  of  the  Snow-Church  offices,  many  of  the 
trade  agencies,  is  very  valuable,  but  these  ask  no  money 
from  their  attorneys,  excepting  in  a  few  cases,  as  the 
Wilber  Mercantile  Agency,  where  the  agency  issues  a 
high-class  list  of  attorneys  and  the  money  asked  is  for 
insertion  of  the  name  therein.  Beware  of  the  agency 
that,  publishing  no  list,  asks  lawyers  for  a  bonus  for  its 
business  and  in  addition  a  division  of  fees.  The  claim 
that  the  amount  asked  (which  we  term  a  "bonus")  is 
for  a  special  service  of  some  sort,  as  giving  information 
on  law  lists,  etc.,  is  generally  a  mere  whitewashing  of 
the  real  transaction.     The  lawyer  is  buying  business. 

The  Card  for  OfBce  Attorney  Lists. 

As  many  forwarders  keep  their  own  list  of  attorneys 
and  as  this  list  is  usually  kept  on  3x5  cards  to  fit  the 
standard  filing  drawer,  it  is  not  unprofitable  to  print  the 
firm  name,  etc.,  on  these  cards  and  place  them  with  for- 
warders. My  observation  is  that  such  cards  are  filed 
as  requested  and  referred  to  when  occasion  requires. 

Advertising. 

I  am  wondering  if  the  modern  lawyer  realizes  that 
he  lives  in  another  world  than  that  of  fifty  years  ago — 
perhaps  not  a  better  world,  but  surely  a  different  one, 
and  that  while  he  may  not  use  the  daily  papers,  or  the 
flaming  billboards,  it  is  up  to  him  to  discover  how  in 
this  eager  era  of  competition  he  may  make  an  impres- 
sion on  the  public  and  maintain  it. 

I  have  often  asked  myself  which  I  would  rather  be, 
if  I  must  be  one  or  the  other,  over-cautious  or  over- 


104  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

confident.  I  think  I  would  prefer  to  be  the  latter.  The 
over-cautious  man  misses  a  lot,  if  only  the  pleasure  of 
the  game.  In  nearly  every  case  it  is  better  to  have  tried 
and  lost  than  never  to  have  tried  at  all.  I  admire  an 
aggressive,  self-confident  man.  I  can  easily  forgive  his 
mistakes.  I  never  can  admire  or  forgive  the  timid, 
wobbly,  self-depreciative  man.  As  for  myself  I  would 
prefer  to  get  to  the  wrong  place  than  not  to  get  to  any 
place. 

It  is  not  easy  to  place  the  proper  value  on  ourselves, 
but  we  have  to  make  the  bluff,  because  we  are  all  in  the 
market.  Each  of  us  has  something  to  sell,  whether  it  be 
muscle,  brain,  pluck  or  what-not.  The  man  who  hides 
himself  now  is  likely  to  find  himself  next  season  among 
the  "hold-over"  stock  and  a  candidate  for  the  bargain 
counter.  Self-depreciation  does  not  pay  because  it  is 
marked  down  value,  and  marked  down  prices  always 
throw  suspicion  on  the  quality.  There  is  nothing  that 
helps  a  man  up  so  much  as  thinking  himself  up.  Think- 
ing often  makes  it  so.  A  man's  assertion  of  his  ability 
to  do  helps  to  create  that  ability.  Napoleon  looked 
upon  things  that  were  possible  as  being  already  done. 
When  his  engineers  reported  that  there  was  a  bare  pos- 
sibility of  leading  an  army  over  the  Alps,  he  already 
saw  himself  facing  the  enemy  on  the  plains  of  Italy. 
Napoleon,  you  will  say,  died  a  prisoner  on  the  barren 
rocks  of  St.  Helena.  Granted.  But  he  is  one  of  the  few 
men  who  have  shaken  this  old  world  till  its  teeth  rattled. 

If  I  were  starting  life  over  again  and  wanted  a  life 
motto  I  could  find  none  better  than  "A  posse  ad  esse." 

I  know  men  who  bewail  the  fact  that  they  never  had 
a  chance  to  demonstrate  their  ability.  Piffle !  These 
same  men,  were  the  chance  to  come  along,  would  need 
a  swift  kick  from  behind  to  waken  them  to  it. 

What  would  one  think  of  a  merchant  who,  on  getting 
new*  goods,  would  display  them-  once  and  then  put 
them  away  out  of  sight?     He  has  goods  and  he  knows 


AND    HIS  WORK  105 

he  has  them,  but  no  one  else  does.  Many  a  man  has 
launched  his  career  with  a  great  splurge  and  then  has 
retired  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  The  world  heard  of  him 
once  and  then  proceeded  to  forget  him,  because  he  hid 
himself. 

In  plain,  unadorned  English,  don't  be  afraid  to  speak 
a  good  word  for  yourself.  Don't  forget  that  we  must 
not  only  be  fit,  but  we  must  emphasize  that  fitness 
through  a  spirit  of  aggression  until  we  get  what  we 
want,  or  what  we  deserve  or  think  we  deserve. 

Many  timid  souls  are  strong  and  true  and  trust- 
worthy, but  you  will  agree  with  me  that  when  the  world 
wants  a  great  work  done  it  invariably  turns  to  the  brave, 
aggressive,  self-assertive  man. 

Just  how  far  may  a  lawyer  go  in  advertising  him- 
self? I  use  the  word  "advertising"  in  a  higher  sense  than 
when  it  is  applied  to  a  department  store.  Perhaps  I 
should  ask,  how  far  may  a  lawyer  go  in  affirming  his  fit- 
ness for  his  work?  Shall  he  be  satisfied  to  paint  his 
name  on  his  office  door  in  the  narrow  corridor  of  an 
office  building  and  then  retire  to  wait  for  the  public  to 
dig  in  to  him,  or  shall  he  continually  assert  himself  in 
some  positive  way,  compelling  the  public,  willy  nilly, 
to  know  him  and  what  he  stands  for? 

I  am  free  to  confess  that  the  day  of  the  over-modest 
man  has  passed.  When  there  were  few  men  to  do  the 
work  there  was  engendered  a  professional  backwardness 
and  lack  of  self-confidence.  Latter  day  rivalry  has 
taught  business  men  that  self-assertiveness  as  well  as 
self-confidence  are  necessary  to  success,  and  that  to  get 
on  one  must  push. 

Merchants  long  ago  did  not  advertise.  Then  there 
came  A.  T.  Stewart,  who  taught  a  new  way  that  was 
distasteful  to  the  old-fashioned  merchant,  but  was  so 
successful  in  its  operation  that  others  had  to  fall  in  line. 
The  great  stores  of  London,  England,  never  used  the 
daily  papers,  except  sparingly,  until  a  few  years  ago  an 


106  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

American,  brought  up  in  the  school  of  Marshall  Field, 
the  merchant  prince  of  Chicago,  startled  the  sleepy- 
tradesmen  of  the  world's  metropolis  with  an  American 
store,  advertised  in  the  American  way.  Now  London 
merchants  are  falling  over  each  other  to  beat  the  suc- 
cessful "Yankee"  at  his  own  game. 

Advertising  by  men  in  professions,  who  are  debarred 
from  commercial  advertising,  takes  various  forms. 
Some  affect  eccentric  dress,  or  manners,  some  talk  loud 
and  long  in  public  conveyances  and  wherever  an  im- 
promtu  audience  may  be  found.  Some  are  joiners  and 
make  themselves  conspicuous  in  fraternal  and  other  or- 
ganizations. Some  take  to  politics  and  office  for  pub- 
licity's sake.  Some  use  black  type  in  law  lists  and  law 
directories.  Some  use  the  news  columns  of  the  local 
papers. 

Unconsciously  we  all  of  us  do  more  or  less  self-ad- 
vertising. You  pay  your  money  and  you  take  your 
choice. 

Cultivating  a  Personality. 

There  are  many  of  us  who  affect  an  indifference  to 
personality  as  a  business  asset.  Yet  personality  has 
been  the  best  asset  of  many  a  successful  man,  and  may 
be  yours  if  you  will  learn  and  practice  its  charm.  To 
be  attractive  to  one's  associates  and  the  public  gener- 
ally does  not  require  that  one  cultivate  unmanly  ways, 
nor  does  it  necessarily  demand  fine  clothes,  a  display  of 
culture  or  wealth,  or  a  profuse  good  humor  and  bon 
homme.  One's  personality  is  an  intangible  influence 
better  felt  than  described. 

The  cultivation  of  a  pleasing  personality  involves  a 
study  and  exercise  of  every  real  accomplishment  and 
virtue.  Goldsmith  said  of  Garrick :  "He  was  the 
abridgement  of  all  that  was  pleasant  in  man."  It  has 
to  do  with  the  face  and  figure  and  dress  and  thought 
and  speech  and  manner.  These  and  a  multitude  of 
other  considerations  enter  in  to  make  the  pleasing  per- 


AND    HIS  WORK  107 

sonality  that  wins  acquaintances,  friends,  clients,  juries, 
courts  and  cases.  I  know  a  lawyer  whose  very  presence 
in  a  case  is  an  argument  in  his  client's  favor.  His  per- 
sonality attracts,  persuades,  dominates.  His  opponent 
must  be  doubly  prepared,  for  he  must  not  only  fight 
against  a  well  prepared  case,  but  against  a  well  ac- 
coutred personality. 

It  is  thought  smart  by  young  men  to  disregard  the 
opinion  of  their  fellows.  They  affect  a  don't  care  atti- 
tude toward  their  associates,  social,  political  and  pro- 
fessional, until  the  affectation  becomes  a  fixed  habit,  and 
they  lose  forever  the  golden  chance  that  a  pleasing  per- 
sonality throws  in  the  way  of  its  possessor.  Men  do 
not  care  to  meet  such  men.  They  are  not  easy  to  ap- 
proach ;  they  care  nothing  for  other  people's  troubles ; 
they  have  no  confidants ;  they  make  no  sacrifices ;  they 
never  get  out  of  themselves ;  they  create  no  sunshine 
and  permit  no  others  to  do  so. 

In  selecting  agents  to  do  our  work  we  purposely 
select,  where  possible,  men  of  pleasing  personality. 
For  such  men  we  pay  more  than  we  pay  to  others.  Their 
market  value  in  the  world  is  at  the  top  notch.  In  some 
lines  of  endeavor,  as  politics,  the  pleasing  personality  is 
almost  a  sine  qua  non. 

John  Sherman's  wonderful  ability  never  could  atone 
for  his  lack  in  this  respect.  Personally  he  was  cold, 
hence  Ohio  when  urged  to  stand  by  him  for  the  presi- 
dency split  into  warring  factions,  and,  instead  of  a  state 
united  on  a  favorite  son,  a  great  part  followed  the  ban- 
ner of  the  Plumed  Knight — the  approachable,  magnetic 
Blaine. 

As  lawyers  we  can  never  overestimate  the  value  of 
a  pleasing  personality. 

Ways  That  Do  Not  Win. 

The  following  are  for  the  most  part  unethical  as 
well  as  useless: 

Circularizing  or  writing  forwarders. 


108  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Circularizing  or  writing  business  houses  asking  for 
direct  business. 

Advertising  blotters,  calendars  and  novelties. 

Cards  in  trade  and  society  journals. 

Visits  to  offices  in  cities  whose  trade  does  not  reach 
the  lawyer's  territory,  or  visiting  in  general  without 
some  definite  errand  in  hand  or  without  some  means  of 
reaching  the  managing  partner  or  collection  manager. 

Notifying  forwarders  generally  of  impending  fail- 
ures or  of  bankruptcies  past  or  imminent.  If  the  ad- 
dresses of  forwarders  known  to  represent  the  particular 
lines  of  business  followed  by  the  failing  merchant  can 
be  learned,  these  may  well  be  communicated  with,  as 
may  also  some  of  the  leading  general  agencies.  For  a 
list  of  the  special  or  trade  agencies,  see  back  of  this 
book. 

Endeavoring,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  disturb  or  un- 
dermine brother  attorneys  in  their  relations  with  law 
lists,  forwarders  and  clients. 

Making  commercial  reports  for  forwarders  and  busi- 
ness men  on  promises  of  business,  excepting  where  these 
forwarders  and  business  men  are  known  to  be  actually 
furnishing  business,  as  do  most  of  the  trade  agencies, 
the  Wilber  agency  and  some  others.  In  the  case  of  re- 
quests from  business  houses  it  is  safe  never  to  accede,  as 
in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  other  attorneys  in 
the  town  are  asked  for  reports  on  the  same  risk  and  the 
chances  are  slim  of  all  getting  the  business,  if  any  arises. 

Getting  the  ill-will  of  fellow  members  of  the  bar  by 
being  too  aggressive. 

Making  one's  self  offensive  in  forwarding  offices  by 
long-drawn-out  controversies  over  minor  matters ;  be- 
ing a  stickler  for  "principle"  in  an  unprincipled  way. 

Hating  oneself  and  letting  it  be  known. 

Carrying  a  chip  on  the  shoulder. 

Adopting  eccentricities  of  speech,  dress  or  manner. 

Being  a  bore,  and  riding  hobbies. 


AND    HIS  WORK  109 

Answers  to  Questions  Respecting  Proper  Professional 
Conduct  Given  by  the  Committee  on  Professional 
Ethics  of  the  New  York  County  Lawyers'  Asso- 
ciation. 


Up  to  November  1917  the  committee  on  Professional 
Ethics  of  the  New  York  County  Lawyers'  Association 
had  cansidered  and  answered  149  questions.  A  large 
number  of  these  related  to  commercial  and  collections. 

I  am  giving  the  answers  to  all  such  questions,  either 
in  full  or  in  abbreviated  form,  believing  they  will  assist 
the  Commercial  Bar  in  reaching  a  proper  and  a  uniform 
practice.  The  questions  themselves  I  shall  not,  in  most 
cases,  give : 

Card  in  Trade  Journal  Disapproved. 

The  publishing  of  a  professional  card   in    a     trade 
journal  is  not  approved. 
Advertisement  Not  Approved. 

"WANTED : — In   collection   business   I   started, 
an  attorney  as  associate  and  outside  man  to  call  on 
trade  for  business,  a  hustler;  percentage  of  profit. 
Box  —  this  office." 
Client  Touting  for  Lawyer. 

It  is  improper  for  a  lawyer  to  procure  business 
through  the  systematic  efforts  of  a  client,  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  lawyer,  by  means  of  letters  sent  out  by  the 
former,  urging  the  employment  of  the  latter  by  other 
persons. 

Retaining  Money  from  One  Transaction  to  Pay 
Disbursements  in  Another. 
An  attorney  is  entitled  to  retain  moneys  in  payment 
of  disbursements  when  said  moneys  were  received  by 
him  in  another  matter  in  which  he  appeared  as  attorney 
for  the  same  client  (tho  the  client  has  not  agreed  to 
allow  the  attorney  to  retain  the  same),  but  subject  in 
case  of  objection  by  the  client  to  a  judicial  determina- 
tion of  the  reasonableness  and  propriety  of  the  disburse- 


110  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ments  and  the  right  of  the  attorney  to  so  apply  the 
moneys.  The  same  answer  is  made  where  the  money 
retained  was  received  in  the  same  matter  in  which  the 
disbursements  were  had ;  and  also  where  the  money  was 
received  on  a  collection  and  part  retained  for  disburse- 
ments in  the  same  matter. 
Form  of  Solicitation  Condemned. 

The  following  form  of  solicitation  is  condemned: 
"Dear  Sir: 

"We  submit  to  you  herewith  a  form  Retainer 
setting  forth  the  plan  under  which  we  are  employed 
as  attorneys  and  general  counsel  by  many  large  and 
small  firms  and  corporations. 

"We  would  appreciate  the  privilege  of  an  ap- 
pointment with  you  at  your  ofhce  or  ours,  to  ex- 
plain the  moderate  terms  and  the  advantages  of  this 
arrangement. 

"Yours  very  truly, 


"RETAINER. 
"Dear  Sirs: 

"We  hereby  retain  you  as  our  attorneys  and  gen- 
eral counsel  in  New  York  City  in  connection  with 
any  and  all  legal  matters  which  we  may  refer  to 
you,  for  the  term  of  years  from  the  date 

hereof,   at  an   annual    compensation    for    all    legal 
services  hereunder  of  dollars 

($  ),  payable  in  equal  quarterly  installments 

at  the  end  of  each  quarter-year. 

"We  understand  that  within  the  term  hereof  we 
are  to  have  the  right  to  call  upon  you  for  all  legal 
services  of  every  kind  and  nature  in  and  about  our 
regular  business,  including  all  matters  of  litigation 
and  negotiation,  and  we  are  to  have  the  privilege  of 
consultation  and  advice  at  all  reasonable  times. 

"In  the  event  that  any  member  or  representative 
of  your  firm  is  required  to  leave  New  York  City  in 


AND    HIS  WORK  111 

connection  with  our  legal  business,  we  agree  to  pay 
you  additional  compensation  for  such  service  at  the 
rate  of  dollars  ($  )  per  day 

for  each  day  or  part  of  a  day  so  actually  and  neces- 
sarily spent  outside  said  city. 

"After  the  expiration  of  the  term  herein  limited, 
the  arrangement  herein  set  forth  shall  continue  un- 
til terminated  upon  thirty  days'  written  notice  by 
either  party  to  the  other. 

"This  retainer  shall  take  eflfect  upon  your  ac- 
ceptance hereof  in  writing. 

"Yours  respectfully, 


'By- 


"NOTE. — We  do  not  desire  to  displace  by  our 
proposition  any  existing  satisfactory  relation." 

Accepting  Retainer  Against  Former  Client. 

It  is  not  ethical  for  an  attorney  to  accept  a  retainer 
against   his   former   employer    (an   attorney)    involving 
matters   of  which   he  might   have  obtained   knowledge 
while  in  such  employment,  and  by  reason  thereof. 
Counsel  for  Association  Soliciting  Members  as  Clients. 

It  is  unprofessional  for  an  attorney,  who  is  the  coun- 
sel for  an  association,  to  send  out  letters  to  a  number 
of  its  members  suggesting  employment  upon  an  annual 
retainer. 

Improper  Solicitation. 

The  following  form  of  solicitation  is  improper: 
"Gentlemen : 

I  would  like  to  submit  a  proposition  to  take  care 
of  all  your  legal  matters  under  a  yearly  contract  at 
less  than  your  collections  alone  now  cost;  in  order 
to  make  a  client  of  you. 

My  method  is  now  being  used  by  many  large 
reputable  firms  and  corporations  in  this  city,  to 
whom  I  would  be  pleased  to  refer  you. 


112  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

I  shall  be  pleased  to  call  upon  you  and  explain 
in  detail.  Very  truly  yours, 

A.  B.  C." 

Attorney  for  Petitioning  Creditors  Representing 
Receiver. 

It  is  not  necessarily  unethical  for  an  attorney  for 
petitioning  creditors  assuming  also  to  represent  the  re- 
ceiver. 

Improper  Solicitation. 

The  following  form  of  solicitation  is  improper : 

"AVOID   LITIGATION 

"1   act   as   advisor,   arbitrator,    adjudicator    and 

special  confidental  agent  to  diplomatically  adjust  all 

difficulties  and  disputes  for  individuals,  corporations 

or  heirs.      Bond   given   when   matters   of   trust  are 

placed  with  me.     Bank  references 

Appointment   by    'phone: " 

Division  of  Fees. 

Any  division  of  fees  by  a  lawyer  should  be  based 
upon  a  sharing  of  professional  responsibility  or  of  legal 
services,  and  no  such  division  should  be  made  except 
with  a  member  of  the  legal  profession  associated  in  the 
employment  as  a  lawyer.  Any  other  division  would 
appear  to  be  a  mere  payment  for  securing  professional 
employment  which  is  to  be  condemned. 

Improper  Forms  of  Solicitation. 

The  following  forms  of  solicitation  are  improper: 
A. — Able  lawyer,  specialist  family  troubles,  pri- 
vate maters  etc.;  furnishes  reliable  advice;  all  cases 
handled;  satisfaction  guaranteed;  quick  results; 
domestic  relation  laws  of  all  states  explained.  Call, 
write.  LAWYER. 

A.— A.— A.— A.— ACCIDENTS,  estates,  family 
troubles  ;  cases  handled  successfully  ;  satisfaction 
guaranteed ;   strictly   confidential ;     matters   quickly 


AND    HIS  WORK  113 

settled;  no  fee  unless  successful.  Call,  write,  'phone 
LAWYER 

"ACCIDENT  CASES,  DOMESTIC  TROUB- 
LES and  all  legal  difficulties  STRENUOUSLY 
handled  to  YOUR  SATISFACTION.  LAWYER 
Evenings  till  9." 

"FOR  results  see  me;  reliable,  experienced;  suc- 
cessful; accident,  family  troubles,  all  cases,  con- 
sultation free.     Call  or  write  LAWYER." 

"LAWYER  (American),  highest  standing;  con- 
sultation free;  notary  public 

Sundays,  evenings  till  9." 

"The  ethics  of  the  legal  profession  forbid  that 
a  lawyer  should  advertise  his  talents  or  his  skill 
as  a  shop-keeper  advertises  his  wares."  People  v. 
McCabe,  19  L.  R.  A.  231. 

Soliciting  Letter  by  One  Lawyer  to  Another 
Disapproved. 
The  following  letter  written  by  an  attorney  to  his 
professional  brethren  is  disapproved : 
"Dear  Sir: 

In  the  course  of  your  practice,  you  occasionally 
are  retained  to  prosecute  actions  to  recover  dam- 
ages for  injuries  sustained  through  negligence.  If 
you  do  not  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  different 
decisions  of  the  courts  as  they  are  handed  down 
daily,  you  may  experience  difficulties  in  framing  a 
proper  complaint. 

If  you  will  send  to  me  a  full  statement  of  the 
facts  in  any  of  your  accident  claims,  I  will  draw  the 
complaint  for  you,  and  a  trial  memorandum  applic- 
able to  such  case,  and  charge  you  for  my  services 
ten  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  the  recovery  or  set- 
tlement. In  the  event  of  no  recovery  or  settlement, 
no  charge  will  be  made. 

Trusting  we  may  be  able  to  do  some  business 
together  in  the  near  future,  I  am." 


114  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Lawyer  and  Agency  Conducted  by  Him. 

A  lawyer  may  not  conduct  either  in  his  own  name 
or  under  some  trade  name  or  title  a  collection  business, 
the  following  being  assumed  as  the  method  of  doing 
business :  Advertisements  or  cards  are  inserted  in  pub- 
lications, and  letters  sent  to  merchants,  in  which  it  is 
stated  that  the  concern  is  engaged  in  a  general  collection 
business  and  solicits  accounts  for  collection;  solicitors 
are  employed  to  visit  merchants  to  solicit  their  collec- 
tion businesss;  the  clerks  employed  in  the  business  are 
paid  fixed  salaries;  all  of  the  profits  go  to  the  attorney; 
and  the  latter  attends  to  professional  matters  arising 
out  of  the  business  within  his  own  territory ;  the  concern 
sending  to  other  attorneys  practising  therein  such  mat- 
ters as  arise  outside  of  his  territory. 

This  plan  unites  the  practice  of  a  profession  with  the 
conduct  of  a  business  which  involves  the  solicitation  of 
professional  employment;  the  essential  dignity  of  the 
profession  requires  that  general  solicitation  of  profes- 
sional employment  should  be  avoided. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  lawer  may  not  make  a 
specialty  of  collections  as  a  part  of  his  professional  act- 
ivities; he  should  not,  however,  cloak  his  identity  under 
a  trade  name  or  title;  he  should  practice  his  profession 
either  in  his  own  name,  or  in  association  with  some 
other  lawyer  or  lawyers  whose  names  may  be  used  to 
identify  the  association.  If  his  announcements  are  in- 
serted in  publications,  they  should  conform  to  the  pro- 
visions of  Canon  27  of  the  American  Bar  Association. 
That  is,  they  should  consist  of  a  simple  professional 
card,  and  he  should  not  in  any  other  way  generally  sol- 
icit professional  employment. 

Division  of  Fees  with  Laymen. 

The  division  of  professional  fees  with  those  not  in 
the  profession  detracts  from  the  essential  dignity  of  the 
practitioner  and  his  profession ;  and  admits  to  its  emolu- 
ments those  who  cannot  lawfuUy  perform  its  duties.  If 


AND    HIS  WORK  115 

the  legal  services  involve  the  bringing  of  suit,  such  a 
division  appears  to  be  prohibited  by  the  N.  Y.  Penal 
Law. 

Lawyer  Receiving  Salary  from  Agencies. 

A  lawyer  may  receive  a  salary  from  a  collection 
agency  for  services  rendered  to  that  agency,  but  if  thi 
lawyer  render  professional  services  to  the  patron  of  the 
agency  the  lawyer  should  make  his  charge  directly  to 
the  patron,  otherwise  the  agency  would  be  determining 
the  charge  to  be  made  for  the  lawyer's  services,  and 
would  be  sharing  in  the  lawyer's  fee,  or  making  a  profit 
on  the  lawyer's  professional  work. 

A  lawyer  may  charge  for  his  own  service  a  specific 
sum,  which  he  retains  wholly  for  himself,  the  collec- 
tion agency  charging  for  its  own  service  a  specific  sum 
which  it  retains  wholly  for  itself. 

It  is  derogatory  to  the  essential  dignity  of  the  profes- 
sion for  a  lawyer  under  such  circumstances  as  indicated 
in  the  preceding  case,  to  permit  another  to  guarantee 
expressly  his  honesty  or  efficiency. 

It  does  not  alter  the  situation  that  all  legal  matters 
coming  through  the  agency  are  referred  to  the  lawyer 
within  his  territory. 

Lawyer  Acting  for  Association. 

Lawyer  A.  B.  may  take  a  retainer  from  G.  H., 
an  organization  of  business  men,  to  perform  such  legal 
services  as  G.  H.  may  require  as  its  attorney,  and  also 
to  attend  to  such  legal  matters  as  the  members  of  G. 
H.  shall  refer  to  A.  B.,  G.  H.  urging  and  soliciting  its 
members  to  place  in  A.  B.'s  hands  for  reference  to  A.  B. 
all  matters  involving  collection  of  accounts,  or  involving 
the  representation  of  creditors  in  bankruptcy  proceed- 
ings, upon  the  ground  that  by  co-operation  in  the  hand- 
ling of  debtor's  affairs,  members  interested  will  profit. 

This  assumes,  of  course,  that  the  lawyer's  retainer  by 
the  association  leaves  him  free  to  follow  his  own  con- 


116  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

science.  There  is  no  impropriety  in  the  course  sug- 
gested, provided  that  G.  H.  is  a  bona  fide  organization 
formed  by  its  members  for  their  own  benefit,  is  not 
engaged  in  a  regular  business  of  collecting  accounts  of 
non-members  for  profit  and  it  is  the  actual  interest  of 
the  organization  which  prompts  its  solicitation,  and 
provided  the  plan  is  not  merely  a  cover  for  the  solicita- 
tion of  business  by  the  attorney.  The  practice  of  the 
solicitation  of  professional  employment  by  a  lawyer  is 
to  be  condemned,  no  matter  what  device  may  be  re- 
sorted to  as  a  cover  or  cloak;  indeed,  the  adoption  by 
him  of  a  cover  or  cloak  to  conceal  what  if  openly  done 
would  be  professionally  improper,  merely  intensifies  the 
impropriety,  for  it  adds  deception  to  what  would  other- 
wise be  an  undesirable  breach  of  the  essential  dignity 
of  the  office. 

A.  B.  may  not  divide  with  G.  H.  such  fees  in  bank- 
ruptcy matters  referred  to  him  by  G.  H.  as  he  may  re- 
ceive as  attorney,  either  for  petitioning  creditors,  recei- 
ver or  trustee. 

G.  H.  may  in  matters  in  which  it  desires  the  coopera- 
tion of  creditors,  not  members  of  G.  H.,  circularize  such 
creditors,  urging  them  to  place  their  claims  with  G.  H. 
or  A.  B.  in  order  that  A.  B.  may  conduct  such  legal  pro- 
ceedings as  may  be  necessary,  it  being  assumed  that  it 
is  for  the  best  interests  of  creditors  that  such  proceed- 
ings should  be  conducted. 

This  is  upon  the  assumption  that  G.  H.  does  this  not 
for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in  a  general  practice,  but 
solely  in  the  special  case  for  the  purpose  of  protecting 
the  interests  of  its  members,  it  may  be  done.  It  would 
be  preferable  to  have  the  proxies  run  to  G.  H.  or  an  of- 
ficer; if  it  be  a  device  to  enable  A.  B.  to  do  indirectly 
what  he  could  not  properly  do  directly,  it  is  to  be  con- 
demned. 

If  the  interest  of  G.  H.  demands  or  justifies  gra- 
tuitous  services   for  non-members,   or  any  other  good 


AND    HIS  WORK  117 

reason  in  the  opinion  of  A.  B.  demands  or  justifies  it, 
he  is  not  required  to  charge  for  his  services;  but  if  it  is 
a  mere  device  to  secure  non-members  as  clients  in  other 
employment,  it  becomes  a  reward  offered  for  employ- 
ment, and  therefore  is  to  be  condemned  for  reasons  al- 
ready assigned. 

Agency  Circularizing  Creditors  Urging  Placing  of 
Claims  with  Lawyer. 

Where  E.  F.,  an  existing  collection  agency,  (the  co- 
operation of  creditors  other  than  regular  patrons  or  sub- 
scribers of  E.  F.  being  deemed  desirable)  circularizes 
such  creditors,  urging  them  to  place  their  claims  with 
E.  F.  or  A.  B.  in  order  that  A.  B.  may  conduct  such  legal 
proceedings  as  may  be  necessary,  it  being  assumed  that 
it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  creditors  that  such  pro- 
ceedings should  be  conducted,  the  following  is  said : 

It  may  be  that  the  act  of  E.  F.  is  the  unlawful 
practice  of  law  within  the  scope  and  reasoning  of  Matter 
of  Co-operative  Law  Co.,  198  N.  Y.  479,  Matter  of  As- 
sociated Lawyers  Co.,  134  A.  D.  350,  and  Matter  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  144  A.  D.  107.  No  opinion  is 
expressed  upon  this  question  of  law.  If  E.  F.'s  act  be 
unlawful,  the  lawyer  should  not  participate  in  any  em- 
olument resulting  therefrom ;  but  if  it  be  lawful  for  E.  F. 
to  circularize  creditors  "in  order  that  A.  B.  may  conduct 
legal  proceedings,"  still  it  is  unprofessional  for  A.  B.  to 
permit  such  solicitation  of  professional  employment  for 
him  by  E.  F.,  since  he  cannot  properly  so  solicit  it  for 
himself. 

A.  B.  should  not  divide  with  E.  F.  such  fees  in  bank- 
ruptcy matters  referred  to  him  by  E.  F.  as  he  may  re- 
ceive as  attorney  either  for  petitioning  creditors,  re- 
ceiver or  trustee. 

Lawyer  Soliciting  Claims  in  Bankruptcy. 

A.  B.,  an  attorney  representing  some  clients,  cred- 
itors in  XYZ,  a  bankruptcy  proceeding,  acts  improperly 


118  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

in  sending  a  general  circular  letter  to  all  creditors,  in- 
forming them  of  his  representation  of  some  creditors, 
and  urging  them  to  place  their  claims  and  proxies  in 
his  hands,  for  the  reason  that  co-operation  is  in  the  best 
interests  of  the  estate. 

The  co-operation  which  is  desired  among  the  cred- 
itors to  prevent  fraud  or  to  secure  an  efficient  adminis- 
tration is  the  concern  of  the  clients,  as  to  which  the 
lawyer  may  properly  advise  them ;  but  he  should  avoid 
doing  directly  or  indirectly  anything  that  savors  of  such 
solicitation  of  employment. 

It  makes  no  difference  if  the  circular  letter  instead 
of  dealing  generally,  asks  that  such  claim  be  placed  in 
his  hands  if  the  creditor  is  not  otherwise  represented. 

He  may  not  so  act  even  if  his  sole  motive  is  to  in- 
sure the  complete  protection  of  his  immediate  clients'  in- 
terests. 

His  motive  is  immaterial;  as  his  client's  interests 
demand  protection,  the  client  or  some  other  agent  of  the 
client  may  seek  the  co-operation,  always  provided  it  is 
not  a  mere  device  to  solicit  employment  for  the  at- 
torney. 

Lawyer  Accepting  Claims  Solicited  by  Creditors' 
Committee. 

A.  B.,  an  attorney  may  receive  claims  or  proxies 
where  such  claims  or  proxies  have  been  secured  through 
circularization  by  a  creditors'  committee  formed  in 
XYZ,  a  bankruptcy  proceeding,  provided  the  committee 
is  not  a  cloak  used  by  A.  B.  to  procure  employment. 

It  makes  no  difference  that  A.  B.'s  clients  are  the 
committee. 

It  makes  no  difference  that  A.  B.  suggested  the  for- 
mation of  the  committee. 

It  makes  no  difference  that  the  proxies  run  to  the 
members  of  the  creditors'  committee  as  attorneys  in 
fact,  A.  B.  appearing  as  counsel  for  the  committee. 


AND    HIS  WORK  119 

It  appears  preferable  that  the  proxies  should  run 
as  suggested  because  that  course  seems  less  liable  to 
abuse  as  an  objectionable  cloak  to  solicitation  of  em- 
ployment for  the  attorney. 

A.  B.  may  receive  from  C.  D.,  a  collection  agency, 
claims  in  the  XYZ  bankruptcy  proceedings,  solicited  by 
C.  D.,  and  appear  as  attorney  in  such  bankruptcy  pro- 
ceedings, acting  under  power  of  attorney  for  such 
claimants. 

A  lawyer  should  not  be  debarred  from  accepting 
professional  employment  from  a  collection  agency.  The 
abuses  to  be  avoided,  and  to  which  a  lawyer  should  not 
lend  himself  are  noted  elsewhere. 

A.  B.  may  receive  from  C.  D.  claims  in  such  bank- 
ruptcy proceedings,  and  appear  as  attorney  for  or  act 
under  power  of  attorney  for  such  creditors,  C.  D.  being 
specifically  authorized  by  the  claimant  to  select  an  at- 
torney for  him,  and  as  his  agent  notifying  A.  B.  that  it 
delivers  the  claim  acting  as  such  agent. 

Lawyer's  Name  Advertised  by  Corporation,  Bank,  etc. 

There  is  no  impropriety  in  an  attorney  permitting  his 
name  to  be  advertised  as  attorney  or  counsel  in  con- 
nection with  a  corporation's,  bank's,  trust  company's, 
or  re-organization  or  creditors'  committee's  announce- 
ment of  its  purposes  by  advertising  in  newspapers  or 
circulars  or  upon  its  letter-heads,  provided  the  particu- 
lar form  of  advertisement  is  not  otherwise  objectionable. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  re-organization  committee,  the 
corporation,  the  bank  or  trust  company  may  depend  in 
part  in  its  appeal  for  public  confidence  and  business  on 
the  standing  and  reputation  of  its  professional  adviser; 
so  also  in  the  case  of  creditors'  committees  either  in  a 
re-organization  plan  or  in  the  request  for  co-operation 
among  creditors,  the  name  of  the  attorney  by  whom  the 
proceedings  in  aid  of  the  creditors  will  be  conducted  is 
often  the  determining  feature  in  the  decision  of  the  cred- 
itor as  to  whether  or  not  he  will  co-operate.     On  the 


120  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

assumption,  therefore,  that  the  attorney  is  not  the  mov- 
ing party  in  the  avertisement  of  his  name,  we  think  it 
would  be  unreasonable  to  answer  this  question  in  the 
affirmative. 

Lawyer's  Name  on  Trade  Association  Stationery. 

There  is  no  impropriety  in  an  attorney  permitting 
his  name  to  be  announced  as  attorney  or  counsel  for  a 
trade  organization  or  association  upon  its  stationery. 

Trade  Association  Soliciting  Claims  for  its  Attorney. 

It  is  not  proper  for  A.  B.,  an  attorney,  to  permit  a 
trade  organization  for  which  he  acts  as  attorney  or 
counsel  to  solicit  its  members  to  consult  A,  B.  upon  such 
legal  matters  as  require  professional  service,  or  to  so- 
licit the  sending  of  claims  for  suit  by  members  of  the 
association  to  A.  B. 

Where,  however,  the  collective  interests  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association  require  co-operation,  it  is  not 
improper. 

Collection  Agency  Use  of  Name  of  Attorney  on  its 
Stationery. 

There  is  no  impropriety  in  A.  B.  permitting  a  col- 
lection agency,  doing  a  general  collection  business,  in- 
cluding the  solicitation  of  collections  but  not  legal  busi- 
ness, to  print  upon  its  stationery  and  in  its  advertise- 
ments "A.  B.,  attorney,"  or  "A.  B.,  counsel." 

Lawyer  Paying  Money  to  Law  List. 

A.  B.,  a  lawyer,  having  a  commercial  practice,  may 
properly  pay  a  fee  to  M.  N.  O.,  a  list  made  up  of  lawyers 
and  in  which  collection  agencies  appear,  for  the  privi- 
lege of  having  his  name  appear  upon  such  lists,  provided 
the  form  of  the  announcement  is  not  otherwise  objec- 
tionable ;  provided  also  that  the  amount  he  pays  to  M. 
N.  O.  is  not  determined  by  the  amount  realized  by  A.  B. 

It  makes  no  difference  as  to  its  professional  pro- 
priety, that  the  list  is  used  exclusively  for  and  by  law- 
yers, or  is  intended  to  be  circulated  also  among  laymen. 


AND    HIS  WORK  121 

It  makes  a  difference  as  to  its  professional  propriety, 
that  the  charge  of  the  list  varies  according  to  the 
amount  of  business  received  by  the  lawyer  through  such 
a  list. 

This  necessarily  involves  a  division  of  the  lawyer's 
professional  fees,  in  consideration  of  the  securing  of  em- 
ployment for  him  by  the  person  with  whom  he  divides 
his  professional  fee. 

It  makes  a  difference  that  the  list  in  connection  with 
its  publication  or  circulation  maintains  a  complaint  de- 
partment at  its  own  expense,  adjusting  differences  aris- 
ing out  of  charges  earned  or  claimed,  and  issues  for  each 
representative  in  the  list  a  surety  company  bond  guaran- 
teeing the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty. 
Bonding  Lawyers. 

It  is  derogatory  to  the  essential  dignity  of  the  pro- 
fession for  a  lawyer  to  seek  employment  by  offering,  or 
permitting  another  to  offer,  a  bond  to  guarantee  his 
honesty  or  efficiency. 

It  makes  no  dift'erence  as  to  professional  propriety, 
that  the  list  is  confined  wholly  to  lawyers,  but  managed 
for  profit,  and  restricted  in  each  town  to  such  firms  or 
individuals  as  are  approved  by  the  managers,  assuming, 
also,  that  the  managers  in  good  faith,  seek  only  to  put 
into  the  list  competent  and  trustworthy  lawyers,  and 
make  their  decision  only  after  careful  investigation  con- 
cerning the  lawyer. 
Law  Clerk's  Card. 

A  clerk  of  mature  years,  wishing  to  have  cards 
printed  showing  that  he  is  connected  with  a  lawyer's 
office  submitted  a  draft  of  such  a  card  in  the  following 
form : 

A B 

with  C D 

Counsellor  at  Law 

(address) 

(telephone) 


122  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

There  seems  to  be  no  valid  reason  why  the  clerk,  not 
being  admitted  to  the  bar,  should  use  a  card  referring 
to  the  attorney;  and  it  appears  to  be  beneath  the  es- 
sential dignity  of  the  professional  position  of  the  at- 
torney to  permit  its  use,  while  likelihood  of  its  abuses 
seems  obvious. 

Lawyers  Remitting  to  Collection  Agency. 

It  is  the  custom  of  some  collection  agencies  to  turn 
over  bills  to  lawyers  for  suit.  In  such  cases  the  col- 
lection agency  always  wishes  to  deal  with  a  lawyer  as 
if  it  were  his  client  and  wishes  collections  remitted  to 
it  instead  of  directly  to  the  creditor.  In  such  cases  the 
patron  of  the  collection  agency  is  the  client,  but  there 
is  not  impropriety  in  the  lawyer's  complying  with  the 
wish  of  the  collection  agency  in  remitting  to  it;  assum- 
ing that  the  agency  is  the  authorized  agent  of  its  patron 
to  deal  in  his  behalf  with  the  lawyer. 

Division  of  Fees  Between  Receiver  and  His  Counsel. 

An  agreement  between  a  receiver  and  his  counsel  to 
divide  their  fees,  i.  e.,  the  Receiver  to  pay  to  his  counsel 
one-half  of  the  commissions  which  the  court  might  al- 
low to  him,  and  the  counsel  to  pay  to  the  Receiver  one- 
half  of  the  amount  which  the  court  awarded  to  him  as 
counsel  for  the  Receiver  is  improper  and  unprofessional. 

Continuing  Name  of  Partner  in  Firm  Name  After 
He  Is  Elevated  to  the  Bench. 

It  is  improper  for  lawyers  to  continue  to  practice 
under  a  firm  name  which  contains  the  name  of  a  former 
partner  who  has  been  elevated  to  the  Bench,  unless  the 
name  of  such  former  partner  is  also  that  of  one  of  the 
continuing  members  of  the  firm.  There  is  no  impropriety 
in  New  York  in  the  continued  use  by  surviving  or  con- 
tinuing members  of  a  legal  copartnership  of  a  firm  name 
which  contains  the  name  of  a  deceased  or  retiring  part- 
ner, provided  the  provisions  of  the  Partnership  Law 
(if  applicable)  are  complied  with,  and  provided,  further, 


AND    HIS  WORK  123 

that  there  are  no  special  circumstances,  such  as  the  dis- 
barment of  the  retiring  partner  or  his  elevation  to  the 
Bench,  which  would  make  such  a  course  improper.  (See 
Matter  of  Kaffenburgh,  188  N.  Y.  49.) 

Soliciting  Employment  Agreeing  to  Bear  Expense. 

A,  an  attorney,  writes  to  B,  a  judgment  creditor  of 
C,  stating  that  he  has  information  whereby  he  can 
collect  a  judgment  of  B  against  C,  and  states  in  the  let- 
ter that  if  he  succeeds  in  collecting  the  judgment,  he  is 
to  receive,  as  his  compensation  a  sum  equal  to  forty  per 
cent,  of  the  amount  collected,  and  if  he  fails  to  collect, 
then  no  charge  is  to  be  made  against  B.  B  writes  to  A,' 
stating  that  if  he  is  not  called  upon  to  bear  any  part  of 
the  expense,  that  then  A  may  proceed.  Without  a  writ- 
ten answer  to  the  communication  last  mentioned  A  pro- 
ceeds to  enforce  the  collection  of  this  judgment. 

The  conduct  of  the  attorney  is  improper  in  two 
aspects,  namely:  that  he  solicits  the  employment  and 
impliedly  agrees  to  bear  the  expenses. 

Lawyer  Reducing  Fees  to  Enable  Agency  to  Charge 
Client  for  Services. 

A  firm  of  attorneys  have  from  time  to  time  been  se- 
lected by  a  collection  agency  as  special  counsel  in  re- 
spect to  the  enforcement  of  the  collection  of  claims  en- 
trusted to  it  by  its  patrons ;  this  firm  is  not  the  regular 
counsel  for  the  agency,  but  is  employed  occasionally, 
upon  claims  and  in  litigation,  when  the  regular  counsel 
is  not  engaged.  The  collection  agency,  while  not  under- 
taking to  do  or  doing  any  actual  legal  work,  has  desig- 
nated its  own  employees  to  examine  and  prepare  ac- 
counts and  data,  to  find  witnesses,  interrogate  them,  re- 
port the  facts  to  said  firm,  serve  summonses  and  sub- 
poenas, and  correspond  with  its  patrons  in  respect  to 
the  facts  of  the  claims  and  the  litigation.  The  firm  has 
rendered  its  bills  for  legal  services  to  the  patrons  of 
the  agency,  but  in  its  care,  and  has  had  no  communica- 


124  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

tion  with  the  patrons,  except  through  the  agency.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  agency  through  its  own  em- 
ployees has  Hghtened  the  labors  of  the  counsel,  they 
have  reduced  their  bills  accordingly,  at  the  instance  of 
the  agency,  so  as  to  enable  this  agency  to  render  a  bill 
to  its  patron  for  the  service  actually  performed  by  its 
own  employees,  without  increasing  the  amount  of  the 
charge  to  the  patron  beyond  the  amount  which  would 
be  charged  by  the  firm,  if  it  were  required  to  render  not 
only  the  strictly  legal  services,  but  also  the  incidental 
services  now  and  heretofore  performed  by  employees  of 
the  agency. 

Assuming  that  the  collection  agency  is  not  unlaw- 
fully practicing  law,  the  arrangement  described  should 
still  be  disapproved,  because  (whatever  may  be  the  ef- 
fect or  intent  in  the  present  instance),  such  an  arrange- 
ment is  too  apt  to  facilitate  the  solicitation  of  business 
for  attorneys,  and  the  division  of  a  lawyer's  fees  with 
a  layman.  Such  results  should  be  avoided  by  making 
the  relation  of  the  lawyer  to  the  patron  the  direct  rela- 
tion of  attorney  and  client,  and  by  making  the  lawyer's 
reasonable  charge  for  his  services  to  the  client  in  such 
manner  as  to  disclose  the  lawyer's  identity  and  relation 
and  prevent  the  agency  from  concealing  his  charge  or 
covering  it  in  its  own  charge. 

Such  services  as  are  involved  in  preparing  a  litigated 
case  for  trial  upon  the  facts  should  be  performed  by, 
or  under  the  direction  of  an  attorney  who  may  be  held 
responsible  to  client  and  Court  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  a  lawyer's  responsibility,  rather  than  by,  or  under 
the  direction  of,  a  lay  intermediary  which  is  presumably 
in  the  business  of  soliciting  claims  that  may  result  in 
litigation. 

Lawyer  Practicing  Under  Assumed  Name.    Employing 
Solicitors. 

It  is  improper  for  a  lawyer  to  engage  in  professional 
employment   under  an   assumed  name;  the   making  of 


AND    HIS  WORK  126 

collections  by  a  lawyer  is  professional  employment;  and 
the  employment  of  solicitors  by  a  lawyer  to  procure 
claims  for  collection,  whether  with  or  without  litigation, 
is  improper,  regardless  of  the  method  of  compensating 
the  solicitors;  if  the  objectionable  features  of  solicita- 
tion and  anonymity  be  removed,  it  is  not  improper  for  a 
lawyer  to  undertake  the  making  of  collections,  with  or 
without  litigation,  or  to  conduct  a  mercantile  agency  or 
to  recommend  another  lawyer  for  employment  by  his 
clients;  but  all  division  of  compensation  between  lawy- 
ers should  be  based  upon  the  sharing  of  professional  re- 
sponsibility or  service,  and  a  division  of  fees  merely  be- 
cause of  the  recommendation  of  another  is  not  proper. 

Improper  Solicitation. 

The  following  solicitation  is  held  to  be  improper: 

"There  is  a  judgment  on  record  in  your  favor 
obtained  a  number  of  years  ago  against  a  party  who 
is  now  able  to  pay  the  debt. 

I  have  information  which,  I  believe,  will  enable 
me  to  collect  this  judgment  for  you. 

If  you  will  be  good  enough  to  authorize  me  to 
make  this  collection  for  you  upon  the  understand- 
ing contained  in  the  paper  enclosed  herewith,  I  shall 
be  pleased  to  promptly  proceed  with  the  collection. 

Trusting  to  hear  from  you  as  soon  as  conven- 
iently possible,  I  beg  to  remain. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(ENCLOSURE.) 

I  hereby  retain  John  Doe,  Attorney  at  Law,  of 
New  York  City,  to  collect  a  judgment,  still  out- 
standing and  unpaid,  recovered  against . 

For  such  collection  I  hereby  agree  to  pay  my 
said  attorney  fifty  per  centum  of  any  amount  col- 
lected on  said  judgment. 


126  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

It  being  agreed  that  if  no  collection  is  made,  I 
am  not  to  be  charged  for  any  services  to  be  rend- 
ered by  my  said  attorney. 

It  being  further  agreed  that  no  settlement  or 
compromise  for  less  than  the  full  amount,  principal 
and  interest,  shall  be  made  without  my  consent. 

Dated,  New  York,  1915. 


Plaintiff's  Lawyer  Dealing  Direct  with  Defendant. 

In  an  action,  judgment  is  procured  in  favor  of  plain- 
tiff. Defendant  wants  to  settle  case  with  plaintiff's  at- 
torneys direct.  Plaintiff's  attorneys  insist  upon  settle- 
ment being  made  through  defendant's  attorneys.  De- 
fendant's attorneys  do  not  wish  to  consummate  settle- 
ment until  their  bill  is  paid.  The  matter  stays  in  statu 
quo  for  several  weeks.  By  what  consideration  should 
plaintiff's  attorneys  be  guided — their  duty  to  their  client 
to  collect  the  judgment,  or,  should  they  stand  still  and 
insist  upon  the  matter  being  settled  through  defendant's 
attorneys?  Whether  an  execution  would  collect  the 
judgment  is  not  known,  but  it  might  imperil  an  early 
settlement. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  the  plaintiff's  at- 
torneys having  done  all  that  professional  courtesy  re- 
quires, and  the  legal  relationship  between  the  defendant 
and  his  attorneys  having  moreover  terminated,  there  is 
no  impropriety  in  plaintiff's  attorneys  dealing  directly 
with  the  defendant. 

Upon  the  termination  of  the  legal  relationship,  see 
Lusk  vs.  Hastings,  1  Hill,  656;  Magnolia  Co.  vs.  Ster- 
lingworth  Co.,  37  A.  D.,  366;  Conklin  vs.  Conklin,  113 
A.  D.,  743. 

Circular  Letter  to  Bankrupt's  Creditors  by  Lawyer. 

A  Bankrupt  has  filed  an  offer  of  composition  on  the 
basis  of  20%!.  His  attorney  sends  out  a  circular  letter 
to  all  of  the  creditors  of  the  Bankrupt,  urging  them  to 


AND    HIS  WORK  127 

accept  the  offer  and  enclosing  to  them  blank  proofs  of 
claim  to  be  made  out  by  the  creditors,  stating  to  them 
that  he  will  file  the  proofs  for  them  with  the  Referee 
in  Bankruptcy  and  collect  and  remit  their  dividends 
free  of  charge,  in  case  they  see  fit  to  return  their  re- 
spective proofs  of  claim  to  him. 

Although  the  question  does  not  disclose  how  the 
attorney  will  collect  the  dividend,  it  would  seem  that 
his  intention  is  to  suggest  the  giving  of  a  proxy  or 
power  of  attorney.  By  the  acceptance  of  such  proxy  in 
the  usual  form,  the  attorney  would  at  once  be  author- 
ized to  act  for  both  debtor  and  creditor, — charged  with 
conflicting  duties.  Unless  his  circular  letter  makes  it 
entirely  clear  that  the  attorney,  in  offering  to  file  proofs 
of  claim,  does  not  seek  to  assume  the  relation  or  duties 
of  an  attorney  to  the  creditors,  the  Committee  disap- 
proves the  practice  suggested.  Of  course,  no  such  com- 
munication should  be  sent  direct  to  creditors  who  are 
represented  by  counsel. 

Lawyer  and  Layman  Dividing  Fees. 

It  is  improper  for  a  lawyer  to  engage  in  partnership 
with  a  layman  and  divide  fees. 

A  fee  charged  for  professional  services  is  none  the 
less  a  reward  for  professional  services  because  it  is 
called  "a  commission."  Lawyers  in  other  States,  who  are 
dividing  with  a  collection  agency  here  (N.  Y.)  the  com- 
pensation they  receive  for  professional  services,  are 
themselves  guilty  of  unprofessional  conduct.  That  the 
service  excludes  the  bringing  of  suit  or  appearance  in 
court  does  not  change  the  inherent  character  of  the 
situation.  In  performing  the  service  the  lawyer's  pro- 
fessional skill  and  responsibility  are  engaged.  There  is 
no  objection  to  a  lawyer  engaging  in  the  collection  of 
an  account,  but  when  he  does  so,  he  does  so  as  a  lawyer 
and  is  subject  to  the  ethics  of  his  profession. 


128  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Lawyer's  Relation  to  Association  Employing  Him 
and  to  its  Members. 
A  group  of  business  men  form  a  membership  corpo- 
ration for  the  purpose,  amongst  many  other  things,  of 
employing  an  attorney  under  an  annual  retainer  to 
supply  them  (a)  with  reports  upon  the  state  of  the  law 
applicable  to  any  given  state  of  facts  of  interest  in  con- 
nection with  the  business  of  any  of  the  members,  and 
(b)  to  furnish  legal  advice  to  the  members  in  connec- 
tion with  any  of  their  business  affairs.  The  corporation 
does  not  advertise  that  it  furnishes  advice,  nor  does  it 
receive  inquiries,  but  it  directs  any  member  applying 
for  advice,  to  communicate  directly  with  the  attorney 
and  to  receive  advice  directly  from  him.  The  attorney 
is  not  in  any  way  under  the  control  of  the  association 
in  connection  with  advice  so  given  and  he  exercises  his 
own  discretion  and  independent  judgment  with  respect 
to  all  applications  for  advice.  The  letters  sent  out  to 
its  members,  the  corporation  makes  the  following  state- 
ment: 

"All  inquiries  as  to  legal  matters  should  be  ad- 
dressed directly  to  the  general  counsel  of  the  as- 
sociation, John  Doe,  at  his  office,  who  will  reply 
direct.  He  will  make  no  charge  for  information 
as  to  the  state  of  the  law  applicable  to  any  state 
of  facts,  except  where  unusual  or  extended  research 
is  required,  when  he  will,  before  proceeding,  notify 
the  inquirer  as  to  the  exact  cost." 

The  service  which  the  attorney  renders  to  the  indi- 
vidual members  directly,  does  not  include  any  legal  ser- 
vice of  any  character,  other  than  the  reporting  upon  the 
state  of  the  law  and  the  giving  of  advice  in  connection 
with  the  questions  submitted. 

The  members  pay  annual  dues,  out  of  which  the 
lawyer  is   compensated. 

The  practice  outlined  above  comes  within  the  con- 
demnation  of  Section  280,  N.  Y,   Penal   Law,  as  con- 


AND    HIS  WORK  129 

strued  in  Matter  of  Co-operative  Law  Co.,  198  N.  Y., 
479;  Matter  of  National  Jewelers  Board  of  Trade,  New 
York  Law  Journal,  March  2,  1916;  Meisel  vs.  National 
Jewelers  Board  of  Trade,  90  Misc.  Rep.  19,  and  is  there- 
fore prohibited  to  members  of  the  New  York  Bar. 

Lawyer  Soliciting  Business  from  Clients  of  Firm 
That  Previously  Employed  Him. 

The  solicitation  by  an  attorney  of  professional  em- 
ployment from  the  clients  of  the  firm  by  which  he  was 
formerly  employed,  in  any  way  except  by  a  simple  card 
or  letter  of  announcement  of  the  formation  of  his  new 
firm,  is  unprofessional,  and  disloyal  to  his  former  em- 
ployers. The  lawyer  owes  it  to  his  employers  as  coun- 
sel owes  it  to  his  attorney  of  record,  not  purposely  to 
induce,  through  the  opportunity  afforded  him  by  the 
confidential  relation  in  which  he  is  placed,  the  transfer 
of  professional  employment  from  his  employers  to  him- 
self. (See  Canon  27,  American  Bar  Association,  1st 
half.)  The  circulation  of  a  professional  card  is  not  con- 
demned by  the  Canon. 

Lawyer  Engaging  in  Loan  or  Other  Business. 

Is  there  any  professional  impropriety  in  a  lawyer, 
while  in  active  practice,  also  carrying  on  a  loan-broker- 
age and  real-estate  business,  and  advertising  such  busi- 
ness, stating  that  the  advertiser  has  money  to  loan  and 
property  to   sell? 

A  lawyer  should  always  conduct  himself,  in  all  of  his 
undertakings,  with  due  observance  of  the  standards  of 
conduct  required  of  him  as  a  lawyer.  The  carrying  on 
of  a  loan-brokerage  and  real-estate  business  by  a  lawyer, 
while  in  active  practice,  is  not  condemned  by  any  ac- 
cepted standard  in  the  profession  in  this  country.  Since, 
for  the  reason  stated,  the  carrying  on  of  the  business 
cannot  be  condemned,  the  advertising  of  the  business  is 
not  essentially  improper,  if  the  advertisement  be  in  such 
form  as  to  avoid  the  interpretation  that  it  is  a  solicita- 


130  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

tion  of  professional  employment,  or  the  solicitation  of 
business  or  employment  because  the  advertiser  is  a 
lawyer.  The  Committee,  however,  does  not  favor  the 
practice  described  in  the  question,  because  in  its  opin- 
ion such  practice  has  a  tendency  to  lower  the  essential 
dignity  of  the  profession. 

Lawyers  Representing  Different  Creditors  Agreeing 

to  Act  One  as  Trustee  and  the  Other  at  Attorney 
for  Trustee. 

A  and  B  are  attorneys,  each  representing  various 
creditors  of  C,  who  has  been  adjudicated  a  bankrupt.  At 
the  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  Trustee,  A  and 
B  agree  to  act  together,  one  to  be  elected  Trustee  and  the 
other  to  act  as  attorney  for  the  Trustee,  and  in  the  event 
of  their  success  to  divide  all  fees  and  commissions  equal- 
ly. Neither  attorney  represents  the  bankrupt  nor  any 
conflicting  interest. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  the  arrangement 
suggested  in  the  question  is  improper.  The  trustee,  as 
the  name  implies,  is  acting  in  a  fiduciary  capacity.  It  is 
contemplated  by  the  Bankruptcy  Act  that  a  trustee  and 
his  attorney  shall  be  selected  by  reason  of  their  fitness, 
and  not  by  reason  of  their  willingness  to  share  their 
compensation  with  each  other.  The  trustee  may  not 
make  a  secret  profit  out  of  his  office.  The  amount  which 
the  Court  allows  him  is  presumably  adequate  compen- 
sation. It  is  his  duty  to  oppose  the  allowance  asked  by 
his  attorney,  if  in  his  opinion  the  sum  asked  is  exces- 
sive. To  have  a  part  interest  in  the  attorney's  fee  tends 
to  warp  his  judgment  and  incapacitates  him  from  dis- 
charging his  full  duty.  Nor  should  an  attorney  make 
an  arrangement  by  which  he  shares  a  fee  earned  from 
a  trust  estate  with  the  trustee  individually.  Even  though 
the  parties  act  with  entire  honesty,  the  whole  arrange- 
ment is,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  contrary  to 
public  policy  in  accordance  with  well-established  rules. 


AND    HIS  WORK  131 

Attorney  Receiving  Retainer  from  Collection  Agency. 

A  is  engaged  in  the  collection  business  and  is  not  an 
attorney.  He  represents  various  clients.  B  is  an  attor- 
ney, and  is  retained  by  A  to  institute  certain  actions  and 
draw  certain  papers  in  actions  in  the  name  of  clients  of 
A,  and  is  to  receive  his  fee  from  A  at  an  agreed  price 
for  each  item  of  work  performed. 

Is  it  permissible  for  an  attorney  in  this  manner  to 
accept  retainers  from  a  person  engaged  in  the  collection 
business  who  is  not  an  attorney ;  and  does  it  make  any 
difference  whether  A  and  B  are  in  the  same  office  or 
have  separate  offices. 

Even  if  the  practice  in  this  case  is  not  illegal,  as  be- 
ing in  principle  the  splitting  of  fees  between  a  lawyer 
and  a  layman,  or  as  permitting  a  collection  agency  to 
practice  law,  still  it  is  improper.  The  relation  between 
the  client  and  the  lawyer  should  be  a  direct  personal  re- 
lationship. In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  it  makes 
no  difference  whether  A  and  B  are  in  the  same  office,  or 
haev  separate  offices. 

Lawyer  Dividing  Fees  v/ith  His  Employes. 

The  gratuitous  distribution  by  a  lawyer  to  his  em- 
ployees of  moneys  in  an  amount  based  on  his  annual 
profits,  is  not  open  to  any  reasonable  objection.  But 
making  in  advance  an  agreement  with  non-professional 
employees  to  share  profits  with  them,  is  inconsistent  with 
the  essential  dignity  of  the  profession,  and  is  liable  to 
be  made  the  cloak  for  promoting  the  solicitation  of  em- 
ployment for  the  office. 

Agency  Practicing  Law. 

"A,"  collection  agency,  solicits  and  receives  a  claim 
for  collection  on  a  10%  contingent  basis.  Not  being  able 
to  collect  it  as  a  result  of  its  own  efforts,  it  forwards 
this  claim  to  an  attorney  on  a  7%  net  basis.  The  attor- 
ney collects  it  and  remits  less  the  7%.  "^A"  remits  to  his 
client  less  10"%'.    The  client  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  the 


132  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

claim  was  collected  by  an  attorney  who  received  part  of 
the  10"%^ 

(a)  Is  "A"  guilty  of  practising-  law? 

(b)  Is  the  attorney  guilty  of  dividing  fees  with  the 

layman? 

(c)  Assuming    that    the    attorney   knew     "A"     was 

charging  10'%j,  is  the  attorney  guilty  of  divid- 
ing fees  with  the  layman? 

(d)  Is  the  course  suggested  improper? 

The  business  of  collection  agencies  is  normally  de- 
pendent upon  active  solicitation ;  the  participation  of 
lawyers  in  making  collections  is  professional  employ- 
ment; the  receipt  of  the  employment  from  the  inter- 
mediary tends  to  destroy  the  lawyer's  sense  of  direct 
responsibility  to  his  client,  the  creditor,  and  the  fixing 
of  compensation  by  the  agency  enables  it  to  exploit  the 
lawyer's  professional  services  for  its  own  profit.  For 
these  reasons  the  arrangement  suggested  is  considered 
improper.  The  Committee  deems  it  unnecessary  to 
answer  the  specific  interrogatories  categorically,  though 
it  directs  attention  to  Meisel  vs.  National  Jewelers' 
Board  of  Trade,  90  Misc.  (N.  Y.)  19,  affirmed  157  N.  Y. 
Suppl.  1133,  tending  to  indicate  that  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances interrogatory  (a)  might  be  answered  in  the 
affirmative. 

Improper  Use  of  Lawyer's  Name  in  Draft. 

There  are  a  number  of  mercantile  agencies  which 
publish  directories  of  banks  and  attorneys  and  charge 
attorneys  for  representation  therein.  These  agencies  sell 
their  directories  to  mercantile  houses  together  with  a 
quantity  of  collection  forms  which  include  drafts  in  sub- 
stantially the  following  form : 

ROE  MERCANTILE  AGENCY 
Bank  and  Legal  For  Protection  of 

Correspondents  Trade,   Collection  of 

Everywhere  in  Debts,   Reporting 

the  World  Delinquent  Debtors 


AND    HIS  WORK  133 

$ ,   191__ 

At  sight,  pay  to Bank  of 

Dollars, 

with  exchange  and  cost  of  collection,  and  charge  to 

the    account    of 

To 


INSTRUCTIONS  TO  BANK. 

If  this  Draft  is  paid,  remit  direct  to  Drawer. 

If  this  Draft  is  not  paid,  please  mail  it  in  en- 
closed stamped  envelope  to 
John  Doe,  Attorney  at  Law,  Smith,  N.  Y. 

Do  not  protest. 
This  draft  is  filled  out  by  the  mercantile  house  by 
inserting  the  name  of  a  bank  as  payee,  and  the  name  of 
an  attorney  in  the  drawee's  town  to  whom  the  draft  is 
to  be  turned  over  by  the  bank  in  the  event  of  non-pay- 
ment, both  names  being  taken  from  the  directory.  If 
the  draft  is  not  paid  it  is  turned  over  to  the  attorney  by 
the  bank  and  then  becomes  a  claim  for  collection  to  be 
handled  in  the  usual  way.  Is  it  proper  for  an  attorney  to 
allow  the  use  of  his  name  in  drafts  of  this  sort? 

In  the  event  the  answer  is  that  such  use  of  an  attor- 
ney's name  is  proper,  would  it  also  be  proper  for  an  at- 
torney to  furnish  similar  drafts  directly  to  his  clients 
with  his  name  printed  at  the  top  in  place  of  the  name 
of  the  mercantile  agency  and  also  with  his  name  printed 
at  the  bottom  under  Instructions  to  Bank? 

The  Committee  is  not  advised  by  the  question  whe- 
ther the  charge  of  the  mercantile  agencies  to  the  attor- 
neys for  representation  is  a  fixed  charge  or  one  depend- 
ent upon  the  results  to  the  attorneys.  If  the  latter,  the 
charge  would  fall  within  the  Committee's  disapproval. 
Nor  is  the  Committee  advised  whether  the  agency  guar- 
antees the  services  of  the  attorney.  If  so,  it  falls  within 
its  condemnation.  Nor  is  the  Committee  advised  of  the 
meaning  of  the  inquirer  when  he  says :  "If  the  draft  is 


134  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

not  paid  it  is  turned  over  to  the  attorney  by  the  bank, 
and  thus  becomes  a  claim  for  collection  to  be  handled 
in  the  usual  way."  These  uncertainties  in  the  question 
do  not,  however,  preclude  the  Committee  from  assum- 
ing that  the  inquirer  intended  to  direct  his  inquiry 
specially  to  the  practice  indicated  by  the  substantial 
form  of  the  draft,  and  it  answers  the  question  on  this 
assumption.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Committee,  it  is  not 
proper  for  an  attorney  to  allow  the  use  of  his  name  in 
drafts  of  this  sort.  Such  use  of  the  attorney's  name  is 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  adopted  as  a  device  to 
make  the  payment  of  the  draft  more  certain  by  acquaint- 
ing the  drawee  with  the  name  of  the  attorney,  and  thus 
using  his  name  as  a  method  of  inducement  or  coercion 
without  his  employment  and  without  the  establishment 
of  the  relation  of  attorney  and  client  between  the  lawyer 
and  the  drawer  of  the  draft. 

The  Committee  does  not  wish  to  be  understood  as 
intimating  an  opinion  that  there  is  any  impropriety  in 
the  drawer  of  a  draft  instructing  a  bank  in  case  of  its 
non-payment  to  turn  it  over  to  his  named  attorney.  It 
is  the  use  of  the  attorney's  name  and  official  style  upon 
the  draft,  or  in  connection  therewith,  as  presented  to 
the  drawee,  which  the  Committee  disapproves ;  and  it 
also  disapproves  the  furnishing  of  similar  darfts  by  the 
attorney  to  his  client,  not  only  for  the  reason  already 
stated,  but  because  it  seems  to  the  Committee  to  par- 
take of  the  nature  of  solicitation  of  employment  for,  and 
improper  advertisement  of,  the  lawyer,  to  distribute 
such  drafts  to  his  clients  for  their  use. 

Lawyer's  Name  on  Agency  Letterheads  Sold  to 
Agency  Clients. 

A  is  a  mercantile  agency  which  furnishes  to  merch- 
ants for  a  consideration,  on  its  letter-head,  collection 
letters.  The  letter-head  bears  the  name  of  A  and,  in- 
conspicuously, the  name  of  B,  attorney.  The  letter  states 
that  unless  the  account  is  paid,  it  will  be  turned  over  to 


AND    HIS  WORK  135 

B.  B  takes  such  claims  for  collection  at  prevailing 
rates.  B  retains  all  collection  fees,  divides  with  nobody 
and  pays  nothing  either  for  securing  the  business  or  for 
having  his  name  on  letter-head  of  A. 

Is  B's  name  on  letter-head  of  A  proper?  Is  state- 
ment in  letter,  that  unless  paid,  claim  will  be  turned 
over  to  B  for  collection,  proper? 

The  practice  disclosed  by  the  first  question  is  ob- 
jectionable in  that  the  stationery  is  sold,  distributed  to 
and  used  by  others  than  the  collection  agency  for  whom 
A  is  counsel  or  attorney. 

The  exploitation  of  the  lawyer's  services  by  the  mer- 
cantile agency,  being  in  the  opinion  of  this  Committee 
improper,  it  disapproves  the  use  of  the  statement  in  the 
letter. 

Corporation  Exploiting  Lawyers'  Services. 

A  is  a  domestic  corporation  engaged  in  furnishing 
mercantile  reports  to  subscribing  members,  who  pay  an 
annual  subscription  fee  and  receive  in  return  therefor 
reports  containing  credit  information  which  aid  them 
in  extending  credit.  A  also  handles  claims  for  adjust- 
ment with  its  subscribers  only,  and  does  not  solicit  col- 
lections nor  receive  any  collections  from  any  one  other 
than  its  subscribing  members.  It  maintains  the  policy 
that  the  adjustment  department  is  open  only  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  its  members. 

The  adjustment  department  of  A  attempts  through 
its  employees  to  collect  accounts  by  personal  calls  and, 
after  such  calls  are  made,  a  report  with  the  result  is 
forwarded  to  A's  subscribers. 

In  the  event  that  it  is  found  that  the  only  way  A's 
claim  can  be  collected  is  by  instituting  a  suit,  then  the 
subscriber  is  notified  to  such  effect.  Thereupon  if  suit 
is  requested  by  the  subscriber,  A  then  requests  the  sub- 
scriber to  assign  his  claim  to  X  who  is  an  employee 
and  officer  of  A,  for  the  purpose  of  instituting  suit.  The 
said  X  now  desires  to  retain  the  undersigned  as  his  at- 


136  THE  COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

torney  agreeing  to  pay  the  undersigned  a  stipulated 
amount  for  services,  and  X  further  agrees  to  advance  the 
undersigned  the  necessary  disbursements  for  suit. 

The  correspondence  and  conferences  of  the  under- 
signed are  to  be  with  X  only,  and  the  undersigned  has 
knowledge  that  X  is  connected  with  the  A  company  as 
officer  and  employee  as  hereinbefore  mentioned. 

Whether  or  not  the  arrangement  of  the  corporation's 
business  described  in  the  question  constitutes  the  un- 
lawful practice  of  the  law,  it  should  not,  in  the  opinion 
of  this  Committee,  be  approved,  because  if  such  practice 
is  pursued  as  the  regular  course  of  business  by  a  mer- 
cantile agency,  it  involves  transactions  between  a  lawyer 
and  an  officer  of  a  corporation,  which  would  in  the  opin- 
ion of  this  Committee,  be  improper  as  between  the 
lawyer  and  the  corporation  itself;  because  it  tends  to 
violate  the  rule  that  the  relation  between  the  lawyer  and 
his  client  should  be  a  direct  personal  relation;  and  be- 
cause it  affords  a  cloak  for  the  hawking  about  of  a 
lawyer's  services  by  a  corporation. 

Agency  Recommending  Lawyer.    Not  Sharing  in  Fee. 

A  is  a  mercantile,  credit,  and  collection  agency  en- 
gaged in  the  business  of  furnishing  credit  information 
to  its  subscribers  and  collecting  their  claims  without 
suit.     B  is  A's  attorney. 

Where  A  is  unsuccessful  in  collecting  claims  with- 
out suit,  it  recommends  to  its  subscribers  the  services 
of  B  as  a  lawyer.     It  writes  a  letter  in  substantially  the 
following  form : 
"Dear  Sir: 

We  beg  to  advise  you  that  your  claim  of  $ 

against  X  Y  Z  &  Company  cannot  be  collected 
without  legal  proceedings.  Our  attorney,  B,  is  pre- 
pared to  handle  matters  of  this  sort.  If  you  desire 
to  start  suit,  we  suggest  that  you  communicate  di- 
rect with  him,  authorizing  him  to  do  so. 

Very  truly  yours.  The  A.  Company." 


AND    HIS  WORK  137 

B,  if  retained  in  such  cases,  charges  for  his  services 
the  same  fee  as  he  charges  other  clients  (whether  or 
not  recommended  by  the  agency).  He  keeps  the  entire 
fee  for  himself  and  pays  no  part  of  it  to  A,  nor  is  the 
amount  of  his  charges  against  A  for  professional  ser- 
vices reduced  on  account  of  professional  employment  se- 
cured through   its  recommendation. 

If  suit  is  authorized,  the  relations  betw^een  B  and 
the  client  become  direct  and  A's  relation  to  the  matter 
ceases.  In  cases  in  which  B  is  retained  in  the  manner 
outlined  above,  A  makes  no  charge  whatever  for  its 
services  either  to  B  or  to  the  subscriber. 

Is  there  any  impropriety  in  B  acting  for  clients  re- 
commended to  him  under  such  circumstances? 

If  the  facts  are  as  stated  above,  except  that  A  does 
make  a  charge  to  the  subscriber  in  matters  taken  over 
by  B ;  such  charge,  however,  being  only  for  its  own  ser- 
vices prior  to  the  taking  over  of  the  matter  by  B,  and 
not  being  contingent  in  any  way  upon  the  success  of  B's 
efiforts ;  would  such  additional  facts  affect  the  propriety 
of  B's  action? 

It  is  assumed  that  the  collection  agency  was  not 
organized,  nor  is  it  conducted,  for  the  purpose  of  foster- 
ing the  interests  of  the  lawyer.  Upon  this  assumption, 
the  Committee  is  of  the  opinion  that,  when  the  need  of 
a  lawyer's  services  arises,  an  agency  may,  if  requested 
(and  the  request  be  unsolicited)  recommend  for  the 
handling  of  the  professional  matter  any  lawyer  in  whom 
it  has  confidence,  provided  the  lawyer  does  not  share 
his  fee  with  the  agency,  nor  pay,  directly  or  indirectly, 
any  consideration  for  the  recommendation.  But  the  re- 
gular and  habitual  recommendation  of  the  lawyer,  done 
with  his  knowledge  and  approval,  and  without  any 
specific  request  for  such  recommendation  on  the  part 
of  the  patron,  has  the  same  quality  as  any  other  organ- 
ized system  of  solicitation  of  professional  employment, 


138  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

with  the  single  exception  that  it  is  free  from  the  taint 
of  being  done  for  compensation. 

As  to  Subdivision  2  of  the  question,  the  Committee 
is  of  the  opinion  that  the  fact  that  the  collection  agency 
makes  a  charge  for  its  own  services,  as  stated  in  the 
question,  does  not  affect  the  propriety  of  the  practice. 

THE  LAWYER  AND  THE  LAW  LISTS. 

Does  it  pay  to  put  money  into  Legal  Directory  ad- 
vertising, if  I  may  dare  use  the  word  "advertising"  in 
talking  to  lawyers? 

It  does  and  it  does  not.  Not  a  very  satisfactory 
answer,  but  it  is  the  only  correct  one. 

First — It  pays  in  some  directories ;  it  does  not  pay  in 
others. 

Second — It  pays  in  some  years;  it  does  not  pay  in 
others. 

Third — It  pays  in  some  localities;  it  does  not  pay  in 
others. 

Fourth — It  pays  at  some  prices;  it  does  not  pay  at 
other  prices. 

There  are  a  few  Directories  recognized  as  profitable 
mediums,  generally  speaking.  I  say  "generally  speak- 
ing," because  no  Directory  can  be  said  to  always  pay  a 
profit  everywhere.  These  Directories,  either  by  a  long 
and  honorable  course  of  dealing,  have  an  established 
standing  and  clientele,  or  by  maintaining  an  active  so- 
liciting force  among  business  men,  forwarding  agencies 
and  lawyers,  control  a  fairly  constant  volume  of  busi- 
ness. These  two  classes  are  worthy  of  patronage  and 
are  generally  profitable.  They  number  less  than  a  score 
and  an  idea  of  their  identity  can  be  gained  from  later 
pages  of  this  book. 

A  publication  may  be  profitable  this  year  and  not 
profitable  next  year,  and  the  reverse  may  be  said.  It  is 
not  fair  to  judge  of  the  ability  of  a  list  to  bring  business 
by  the  results  of  one  year.     Be  sure  that  the  publisher 


AND   HIS   WORK  139 

is  honestly  striving  to  produce  business.  Find  this  out. 
If  it  is  a  fact,  stick  to  the  list.    If  not,  drop  it. 

The  paying  Directories  are  national  in  their  influ- 
ence and  scope.  They  produce  business  everywhere. 
This  must  be  taken  in  a  general  sense,  for  there  are 
communities  w^here  it  is  foolish  for  the  lawyer  to  ex- 
pect business  from  any  outside  source.  He  will  not  get 
it,  because  there  is  none  to  be  had. 

Suppose  you  live  in  a  county  seat,  in  the  midst  of  a 
fertile  country.  The  townspeople  are  steady,  conserv- 
tive  men  and  women.  The  merchants  are  generally 
solvent.  The  people  own  their  own  homes.  They  buy 
little  that  they  do  not  pay  for.  The  farmers  are  pros- 
perous. Their  farms  are  productive  and  paid  for. 
There  is  a  very  small  transient  population.  If  you  had 
all  the  commercial  business  of  the  town  you  could  carry 
it  in  your  hat.  Under  such  conditions  it  would  be  fool- 
ish to  put  money  into  publicity,  unless  at  a  very  small 
price. 

List  publishers  seldom  look  far  enough  to  recognize 
such  conditions,  and  with  their  flat  rate,  based  on  popu- 
lation, they  wonder  why  they  do  not  get  and  keep  paid 
correspondents  in  such  places.  The  answer  is  easy. 
They  furnish  no  business  and  never  can. 

The  same  condition  exists  in  a  manufacturing  city, 
where  some  few  factories  gather  about  them  a  great 
population  of  workmen,  who  receive  their  wages  regu- 
larly and  spend  them  at  local  stores.  There  is  little  or 
no  commercial  business  to  be  had. 

The  same  is  true  of  old,  staid  New  England  towns, 
where  the  business  comes  down  from  father  to  son  and 
failures  are  few  and  far  between. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  large  city,  with  its  varied  in- 
terests, the  growing,  enterprising  towns  and  cities, 
where  there  are  fluctuating  conditions  and  population  and 
business  is  changing  from  year  to  year,  where  bustle, 
and  enterprise,  and  the  spirit  of  venture  permeates  the 


140  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

air — these  all  prove  good  ground  for  the  commercial 
lawyer.  Directory  advertising  is  likely  here  to  pay,  if 
wisely  placed. 

To  make  a  profit  one  must  take  in  something  more 
than  he  pays  out.  If  a  Directory  has  averaged  for  a 
number  of  years  $500  in  fees  annually  there  would  be  no 
profit,  if  the  lawyer  must  pay  $500  for  it. 

The  question  arises :  What  may  the  lawyer  pay  for 
list  publicity  and  at  the  same  time  get  a  fair  profit  on 
his  investment  of  time,  efifort  and  money?  Various  an- 
swers are  given.  Some  lawyers  want  three  for  one; 
some  five  for  one ;  some  ten  for  one. 

I  do  not  think  a  ratio  can  be  fixed,  since  the  returns 
from  a  law  list  are  not  to  be  so  measured.  A  simple 
illustration  will  show : 

My  name  in  a  certain  list  once  brought  me  an  in- 
significant matter,  and  this  brought  me  an  introduction 
that  led  to  a  clientage  for  years — long  after  my  connec- 
tion with  the  Directory  ceased. 

Indeed,  some  publishers  claim  that  all  they  can  do  is 
to  bring  client  and  attorney  together — to  act  as  intro- 
ducer; that  it  is  then  up  to  the  attorney  to  establish  a 
relationship  of  profit.  There  is  some  sense  in  this.  In 
reality,  this  is  the  true  function  of  a  Law  List. 

It  is  not  fair  to  credit  to  a  list  only  the  direct  and 
immediate  cash  returns  for  a  period  and  say,  I  paid  so 
much,  and  I  received  so  much ;  it  was  profitable  or  it  was 
not,  as  the  figures  may  happen  to  balance  one  way  or  the 
other. 

Some  Directories  introduce  one  into  a  better  class  of 
business  society  than  do  others.  If  your  publisher  is 
pushing  for  high-class  clients  you  can  afiford  to  pay  him 
more  than  you  pay  the  publisher  who  succeeds  only  in 
bringing  you  stale  and  worthless  matters,  installment 
payment  accounts,  and  the  like. 

If  you  push  me  for  a  ratio  of  actual  receipts  to  prices 
paid,  I  would  say  that  I  do  not  think  a  lawyer  should 


AND    HIS  WORK  141 

work  for  half  pay,  as  he  would  be  doing  if  he  gave  half 
his  income  from  a  list  to  its  publisher,  one-fourth  of 
his  pay,  or  one-fifth  of  his  pay,  or  even  one-eighth  of  his 
pay.  A  price,  if  it  is  ethical  and  legal  to  base  it  on  re- 
turns, should  be  based  on  the  average  returns  for  several 
years,  and,  proper  consideration  being  given  in  the  calcu- 
lation to  the  value  of  connections  formed,  then  ten 
dollars  for  one  would  be  fair. 

A  simple  illustration :  I  pay  ten  dollars  for  my 
name  in  a  list.  It  brings  me  four  fees,  amounting  to  a 
total  of  fifty  dollars.  This  is  five  dollars  for  one.  This 
would  be  a  good  gamble,  but  we  are  not  talking  about 
gambling.  I  work  for  every  dollar  of  the  fifty.  I  earn 
every  dollar.  A  local  client  would  have  had  to  pay  me 
fifty  dollars.  By  paying  the  publisher  ten  dollars  I  am 
doing  my  work  at  four-fifths  pay.  I  ought  not,  gener- 
ally speaking,  to  be  compelled  to  give  up  so  large  a  pro- 
portion. 

But  I  find  that  one  of  those  fees  that  made  up  the 
fifty  dollars  was  paid  me  by  a  house  whose  traveling 
man  later  came  to  see  me  regarding  the  matter  while  it 
was  in  progress  and  left  with  me  a  further  item  of  busi- 
ness that  brought  a  hundred-dollar  fee  and  brought  me 
in  direct  touch  with  people  who  will  remain  my  clients 
possibly  for  years.  The  Directory  publisher  did  this 
for  me,  unconsciously,  and  if  I  am  honest  I  will  figure 
that  out  of  my  ten-dollar  investment  I  have  made  $50 
plus  $100  plus  a  permanent  business  connection,  and 
the  ratio  of  results  is  as  one  to  fifty  or  one  to  a  hundred, 
perhaps. 

Did  you  ever  study  out  how  your  business  grows? 
It  doesn't  come  like  drops  of  rain,  each,  as  it  falls,  an 
independent  drop.  It  is  more  like  the  drops  of  water 
on  the  window  pane,  each,  as  it  grows,  falling  into  an- 
other, and  this,  dropping  more  rapidly,  unites  with 
another  until  a  stream  is  coursing  its  way  down  the 
glass. 


142  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

It  is  seldom  that  a  piece  of  local  business  blows  in 
out  of  the  clear  sky.  If  business  came  in  this  way  you 
would  remove  your  roof.  No,  most  of  your  business 
has  come  through  other  business,  and  some  of  your 
best  business  today,  Mr.  Complainer,  can  be  traced  back 
to  some  trivial  matters  thrown  to  you  by  some  much- 
abused  and  long-since  dismissed  list  publisher. 

I  recall  once  getting  one  rotten  item  in  a  whole  year 
from  a  Directory  to  which  I  paid  fifty  dollars.  I  paid 
the  fifty  dollars  under  protest,  and  all  the  time  I  forgot 
that  the  rotten  item  brought  me  into  contact  with  a 
merchant  who  later  failed  and  that  I  wound  up  his  af- 
fairs. That  was  a  profitable  fifty-dollar  investment.  I 
cite  the  instance  to  show  how  easily  we  may  figure 
wrong  on  these  matters  and  do  both  ourselves  and  a 
publisher  injustice.  If  you  will  read  carefully  what  I 
elsewhere  say  about  making  clients  you  will  learn  an- 
other source  of  profit  to  be  gained  from  Law  List  rep- 
resentation. 

Advertising  is  a  game  full  of  mystery.  The  shrewd- 
est advertisers  in  the  world  admit  it  is  an  art  never  mas- 
tered. There  is  no  certainty  about  it;  in  large  meas- 
use  it  is  always  a  gamble.  I  speak  from  a  full  heart,  for 
I  planned  and  executed  advertising  campaigns  for  years 
for  a  business  that  spent  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars in  printer's  ink.  My  experience  was  that  there  was 
and  could  be  no  exact  rule.  Even  experience  was  no 
guide.  I  have  bought  at  a  thousand  dollars  one  page 
in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  and  reaped  a  big  profit,  and 
a  year  later,  in  the  same  month,  with  better  copy, 
bought  the  same  page  and  dropped  big  money. 

No  magazine  can  guarantee  results.  There  are  too 
many  elements  of  chance.  Neither  can  a  list  publisher. 
He  can  only  say :  This  is  the  amount  and  character  of 
my  circulation.  This  is  my  plan  for  getting  business. 
These  are  the  probabilities.     He  can  do  no  more. 


AND   HIS   WORK  143 

Any  kind  of  printer's  ink  that  is  respectable  is  worth 
something  as  a  gamble.  Even  a  scrap  of  paper  picked 
up  in  the  street  may,  by  an  announcement  it  contains, 
win  somebody  a  customer.  But  some  classes  of  printed 
matter  are  greater  gambles  than  others.  The  better 
class  are  more  nearly  investment  propositions  than 
others  which  are  purely  ventures.  It  is  the  task  of  the 
advertiser  to  decide  first  whether  he  will  spend  his 
money  in  legitimate  advertising  investments  or  in  ad- 
vertising gambling,  or  in  both. 

It  is  much  like  horse  racing.  You  go  to  a  race. 
Certain  horses  have  records  as  winners.  You  know 
them.  You  put  up  money  on  them  with  some  show  of 
winning. 

I  often  say  to  inquirers  regarding  this  and  that  Law 
List:  "Yes,  it  is  a  list.  It  is  in  print.  But  that  is  all. 
It  may  win  out  for  you  just  as  a  dark  horse  wins  a  race 
at  times.  But  in  putting  money  into  it  you  are  not 
really  investing,  you  are  gambling." 

If  you  go  to  a  horse  race  not  knowing  a  thing  about 
horses  in  general  and  the  entries  in  particular  it  would 
be  the  height  of  folly  for  you  to  buy  a  chance,  unless, 
in  so  doing,  you  want  simply  the  sport  and  can  afford 
to  lose  the  money,  but  if  in  losing  you  cripple  yourself 
to  any  degree,  or  make  it  hard  for  the  folks  at  home, 
you  are  playing  the  fool. 

So  I  say  about  the  greater  number  of  Law  List 
propositions.  If  you  can  spend  the  money  and  not  miss 
it,  and  not  rob  anybody  of  anything  he  or  she  may  need 
or  deserve,  go  to  it,  for  there  is  always  a  chance  of 
winning. 

I  once  paid  a  large  price  for  representing  a  Direc- 
tory in  St.  Paul.  I  now  know  the  Directory  was  of  the 
worthless  type,  measured  by  ordinary  standards.  The 
year  passed  and  I  did  not  receive  a  two-cent  stamp — 
not  even  an  inquiry.  I  was  mad  clear  through.  Two 
years  later,  after  I  had  moved  to  Detroit,  my  St.  Paul 


144  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

partner,  who  succeeded  to  our  firm  business,  sent  me  a 
substantial  fee  earned  from  business  sent  over  that  Di- 
rectory two  years  after  my  name  had  appeared  in  it. 

What  are  we  going  to  do  when  such  things  are  con- 
tinually happening?  All  we  can  say  is  that  any  piece 
of  printer's  ink  may  produce  results.  If  a  man  has 
money  he  can  afford  to  throw  away  in  printer's  ink,  let 
him  take  everything  that  comes.  But  don't  let  him  blame 
anybody  else  for  his  failure  to  win.  Don't  blame  horse 
flesh  in  general  because  some  poor  cob  failed  to  hobble 
in  and  was  distanced.  You  had  your  sport,  so  take  your 
medicine  like  a  sport. 

If,  however,,  you  are  doing  business  on  business 
principles,  and  not  gambling,  you  are  going  to  learn  the 
difference  between  an  investment  and  a  game  of 
chance,  and  know  that  while  every  investment  has  an 
element  of  risk  in  it,  there  are  some  where  the  risk  is 
negligible. 

There  are  some  law  lists  that  can  be  safely  trusted 
to  produce  business.  Their  publishers  are  in  the  busi- 
ness to  make  money  legitimately ;  they  are  endeavoring 
to  build  up  permanent  enterprises ;  they  are  not  trying 
to  fleece  the  public  and  unload ;  they  are  not  out  for 
merely  temporary  profit. 

These  directories  or  lists  are  not  always  the  so- 
called  leading  lists.  They  may  not  be  leaders  because 
they  are  new  or  limited  in  scope  or  field.  They  may 
be  as  well  worth  the  small  amount  charged  by  them  as 
may  the  leaders  at  the  large  prices  they  command. 

Then  there  is  the  matter  of  general  publicity,  gen- 
eral reputation,  which  makes  a  part  of  what  you  are 
buying.  If  you  sent  business  to  Denver,  to  whom 
would  you  send  it?  You  would  not  have  to  look  in  a 
book  to  find  a  name.  Certain  firms  there  have  a  general 
reputation ;  you  know  them ;  every  one  knows  them. 
Why?  How?  Not  through  their  having  conducted 
some  world-wide  litigation  that  has  brought  them  into 


AND   HIS   WORK  145 

general  prominence;  not  through  their  name  being  at 
the  present  moment  in  certain  legal  directories,  but, 
through  the  years,  they  have  gained  a  country-wide  pub- 
licity through  the  many  avenues  open  to  such  as  seek 
it  legitimately,  and  you  don't  need  to  refer  to  the  books. 
Suppose  you  were  to  send  business  to  Denver.  You 
might  send  a  list  "coupon,"  but  if  you  did  it  would  be  to 
please  the  publisher  or  to  get  the  advantage  of  a  bond- 
ing scheme.  The  situation  is  the  result  of  an  ability  to 
make  good  on  the  part  of  certain  lawyers  in  Denver  and 
their  general  reputation  as  built  up  by  professional  pub- 
licity. 

The  most  valuable  asset  of  a  commercial  law  busi- 
ness is  this  widespread  prominence  of  its  name.  How 
are  you  going  to  give  credit  to  lists  or  what  not  for  this 
intangible  thing,  and  yet  list  publicity  is  at  the  origin, 
is  the  foundation  of  it  all. 

So  let's  be  fair.  If  a  list  pays  nothing;  if  it  is  known 
to  be  faking  in  circulation;  if  its  publishers  are  high- 
waymen; if  it  lies  in  its  circular  matter  or  through  its 
solicitors;  if  it  makes  no  honest  effort  to  deliver  the 
goods,  let's  knife  it.  But  if  it  does  get  us  business,  does 
introduce  us  to  prospective  clients,  does  give  us  general 
publicity  in  good  company,  does  make  an  honest  effort 
to  keep  our  names  before  the  business  world,  let's  not 
try  to  keep  books  too  close  on  it  because,  after  all,  the 
value  of  advertising  (and  I  use  the  word  professionally) 
is  always  undeterminable,  is  always  uncertain,  and  is 
ever  just  as  likely  to  surprise  one  happily  as  to  griev- 
ously vex  and  disappoint  one. 

Advertising  does  not  always  pay,  but  it  does  bring 
results,  as  the  fellow  said  who  advertised  for  a  wife. 

And  don't  forget  it  is  ever  true  that  the  horse  that 
wins  is  always  the  one  that  stays  in  till  the  end  of  the 
race. 

The  things  to  look  out  for  in  a  list  are :  The  personnel 
of  the  organization  back  of  it.     Are  the  publishers  sin- 


146  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

cere  and  honest?  The  circulation  of  the  book,  its 
amount  and  character.  The  plan  of  the  publishers  for 
obtaining  business  for  their  patrons,  if  they  have  a  plan. 
Is  it  aggressive  and  effective?  The  kind  of  men  vi^ho 
are  represented  in  its  pages. 

There  are  two  general  classes  of  publishers.  One 
class  embraces  those  who  issue  a  book  and  circulate  it 
without  employing  an  organization  back  of  it  to  drum 
up  business.     They  are  in  reality  book  publishers  only. 

To  the  first  class  belong  a  very  few,  like  Hubbell 
and  Sharp  &  Alleman.  This  is  the  old-line  Directory, 
dignified,  respectable  and  responsible.  A  few  years  ago 
no  other  sort  of  book  was  known.  No  question  was 
ever  raised  as  to  the  ethical  side  of  card  advertising  in 
its  pages.  The  greatest  law  firms  in  the  country  pat- 
ronized it  and  still  do.  Its  publishers  charged  a  fixed 
price,  not  dependent  on  any  considerations  excepting 
space  occupied. 

The  second  class  is  a  Law  List  or  Directory  and 
something  else,  and  this  something  else  takes  many  and 
various  forms  and  names. 

One  publisher  has  branch  offices  and  a  soliciting 
force  to  visit  merchants  or  agencies,  or  both,  who  en- 
deavor to  secure  by  means,  many  and  varied,  their  for- 
warding business.  They  generally  give  their  book 
gratis  to  Forwarders. 

Another  gives  or  sells  with  his  book  a  system  of 
dunning  letters,  drafts,  forwarding  letters  and  report 
blanks,  which  are  to  be  used  in  conjunction  with  the 
book  in  collecting  direct  or  through  the  list  representa- 
tives. 

The  solicitation  of  business  by  publishers  in  behalf 
of  their  representatives  raises  a  grave  ethical  question, 
which  some  day  must  be  settled,  for  admittedly  the 
price  charged  for  representation  in  the  books  of  such 
publishers  is  based  not  on  space  used  or  in  circulation, 
and  hence  fixed,  but  on  the  amount  of  business  had  or 


AND   HIS   WORK  147 

expected.  Indeed,  this  rule  of  measurement  is  openly 
applied  in  determining  as  between  buyer  and  seller  of 
representation  the  price  to  be  paid,  and  yet  if  A  were 
to  go  to  B  and  say,  "For  one  hundred  dollars  I  will  de- 
liver to  you  so  much  business,"  he  would  be  shocked  at 
the  proposal. 

That  this  system  of  charges  is  firmly  entrenched  can 
not  be  gainsaid.  It  is  well-nigh  universally  recognized 
and  taken  for  granted.  High-class  men,  both  publishers 
and  lawyers,  permit  its  operation  without  protest,  on 
the  theory  that  whatever  is  is  right.  But  I  may  be  per- 
mitted to  hazard  the  guess  that  the  day  will  come  when 
a  better  system  will  be  devised. 

The  bad  results  of  this  system  of  price  fixing  are 
seen  in  the  unseemly  scramble  for  business  on  the  part 
of  Law  Lists,  the  buying  of  business  from  clients  and 
Forwarders  by  many  and  devious  devices,  either  cash 
or  other  consideration,  and  the  constantly  increasing 
cost  to  the  lawyer  of  representation,  since  in  the  last 
analysis  it  is  he  that  must  pay  for  the  publisher's  solicit- 
ing enterprises. 

As  with  every  other  business  permitted  to  grow 
without  hindrance  from  outside  authority,  the  list  pub- 
lishing business  has,  in  individual  instances,  taken  on 
some  undesirable  features.  As  long  as  every  list  pursued 
its  own  way,  according  to  its  own  sweet  will,  these 
features  naturally  increased  in  number  and  ugliness.  It 
was  inevitable  that  some  day  a  means  would  be  found 
to  save  the  lists  to  themselves  and  to  the  world  of  busi- 
ness that  requires  them. 

These  means  were  found  through  the  Commercial 
Law  League  of  America,  which  several  years  ago  ap- 
pointed a  committee,  known  as  "the  Committee  on 
Complaints  Against  Law  Lists."  This  committee  never 
did  more  than  meet  and  decide  as  to  its  jurisdiction  and 
listen  to  a  few  minor  complaints.  But  it  served  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  complaints  did  exist. 


148  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

In  the  League  year  1916-17,  President  Earle  W. 
Evans,  in  a  spirit  of  friendliness,  invited  the  leading 
list  publishers  into  conference.  These  publishers,  nine 
in  number,  met  with  Mr.  Evans  in  New  York  City  and 
co-operation  among  the  lists  for  the  betterment  of  con- 
ditions was  the  matter  of  consideration  and  debate.  The 
result  of  the  meeting  was  beyond  expectations.  The 
nine  publishers — namely,  the  American  Lawyers  Com- 
pany, the  United  States  Fidelity  and  Guaranty  Com- 
pany, the  National  List,  the  C.  R.  C.  Law  List  Com- 
pany, Martindale,  Wilber,  the  IMercantile  Adjuster,  the 
Clearing  House  Quarterly  and  the  Bonded  Attorney — 
organized  themselves  into  a  permanent  body,  to  be 
known  as  "the  List  Publishers'  Conference,"  and  elected 
as  ofificers  Marshall  D.  Wilber  President  and  Charles 
Friend  Secretary. 

Such  a  body,  in  which  there  is  the  utmost  freedom 
of  expression,  cannot  fail  to  bring  to  light  irregularities, 
reform  incipient  or  well-entrenched  abuses  and  do  away 
with  the  harmful  methods  that  always  accompany  un- 
bridled competition. 

I  believe  this  conference  can  multiply  its  usefulness 
many  times  by  admitting  to  its  councils  many  list  pub- 
lishers not  now  represented  in  it,  who,  though  owning 
smaller  enterprises,  are  yet  capable  and  worthy  repre- 
sentatives of  the  business. 

It  should  be  the  aim  of  every  one  to  encourage  an 
honestly  conducted  list  enterprise.  The  Law  List  is  an 
indispensible  implement  of  business,  both  lay  and  pro- 
fessional. Chaos  and  confusion  in  the  collecting  and 
reporting  world  would  at  once  result  were  its  services  to 
cease. 

The  widest  use  can  be  made  of  perhaps  a  score  of 
such  enterprises  in  a  country  of  over  a  hundred  million 
population,  but  not  of  a  hundred  such  as  now  seek  to 
occupy  the  field. 


AND   HIS   WORK  149 

How  to  get  rid  of  the  large  number  of  superfluous 
and  at  the  same  time  worthless  lists  is  a  question  re- 
quiring answer.  I  believe  the  problem  is  solving  itself. 
The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  is  making  it 
very  difificult  for  the  incapable  and  irresponsible  pub- 
lisher to  continue.  Evidences  are  multiplying  that 
scores  of  lists  are  on  their  last  legs.  Some  are  chang- 
ing hands,  which  is  a  sign  of  weakening;  some  are  pool- 
ing issues  with  others. 

Seldom  now  does  a  new  list  get  more  than  a  start. 
The  League  adopts  the  plan  of  taking  the  new  list  into 
its  confidence  and  pointing  out  the  pitfalls  ahead.  In 
a  score  of  instances  within  two  years  the  result  of  the 
League's  advice  has  been  the  withdrawal  of  new  enter- 
prises. 

The  Information  Bureau  of  the  League,  by  giving 
advice  to  the  members  as  to  all  list  publishing  enter- 
prises, as  soon  as  they  appear,  has  resulted  in  the  with- 
holding of  support  by  lawyers,  so  necessary  to  the  suc- 
cessful launching  of  new  lists. 

Lawyers  are  being  educated  through  the  League, 
its  bulletins  and  its  conventions,  to  spend  their  money 
judiciously  and,  whereas,  before  the  League's  begin- 
nings, lawyers  had  no  means  of  knowing  the  facts  be- 
hind glittering  promises  on  paper  and  glib  presentments 
by  sleek  solicitors,  they  now  have  a  prompt  and  re- 
liable source  of  information. 

I  am  satisfied  that  another  ten  years  will  see  the 
number  of  Law  Lists  reduced  by  half,  if  not  two- 
thirds,  and  such  prosperity  brought  to  the  enterprising, 
responsible  and  honest  publisher  that  many  of  the 
abuses  now  prevalent  by  reason  of  the  scramble  for 
business  will  have  passed  away,  largely  through  the 
action  of  the  publishers  themselves. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  way  the  profession  is  being 
hoodwinked  by  dishonest  list  publishers,  let  me  cite  this 
instance : 


150  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

A  smooth  talking  solicitor  is  now  on  the  road  rep- 
resenting two  lists,  both  published  by  the  same  indi- 
vidual. He  is  offering  representation  in  some  cities  to 
from  ten  to  twenty  law  firms  at  prices  running  from  $50 
up,  and  he  is  getting  away  with  it,  I  examined  into  the 
case. 

First  I  obtained  a  copy  of  the  lists.  One  was  printed 
on  good  paper  in  clean  type  and  well  arranged.  The 
whole  had  the  appearance  of  respectability  and  worth. 
The  title  page  annouced  the  edition  to  be  volume  13. 
I  thought  this  strange  for  several  reasons.  First,  I  had 
never  before  seen  the  list  and  I  have  had  my  eyes  open 
for  some  years ;  second,  I  had  never  heard  of  it,  and  I 
have  had  my  ears  to  the  ground  for  some  time  listening 
for  new  things;  and  third,  the  type  impressions  were  of 
a  uniform  shading  throughout  the  book,  which  is  not  the 
case  where  pages  have  been  kept  standing  for  reprinting 
from  time  to  time,  since  the  new  names  will  show  up 
clean  and  the  old  ones  will  be  blurred.  So  much  is  this 
so,  I  know  of  a  case  where  a  firm  whose  name  appeared 
in  a  Directory  for  the  first  time  refused  to  pay  because 
a  different,  a  blacker  type  had  been  used  (as  they 
thought)  for  the  names  of  their  competitors,  while  the 
fact  was  the  type  on  the  other  names  had  passed  through 
several  editions  and  was  worn,  with  the  result  stated. 

For  these  three  reasons  I  made  up  my  mind  there 
was  a  "nigger  in  the  woodpile."  I  wrote  the  publishers 
asking  for  copies  of  prior  editions  and  got  the  informa- 
tion that  the  list  was  new  under  the  name  used,  but 
had  succeeded  some  nondescript  publication  started 
years  ago,  which  had  about  as  much  resemblance  to  a 
Law  List  as  black  resembles  white.  In  fact  the  new 
book  was  not  volume  13  at  all ;  it  was  volume  1  as  a  Law 
List  and  had  no  past,  good  or  bad.  Yet  every  lawyer 
solicited  thought  he  was  being  asked  to  put  his  money 
in  a  proposition  of  years'  standing. 

Then   I  went  farther.    I   found  cards  of  four  well- 


AND   HIS   WORK  151 

known  Kansas  City  law  firms  in  the  list — not  their  firm 
names  only,  but  in  connection  therewith  their  special- 
ties, their  references,  etc. — quite  formidable  cards.  I 
wrote  these  four  firms  asking  if  they  had  made  contracts 
with  this  directory  and  they  all  denied  having  had  any 
dealings  with  it  and  having  ever  heard  of  it. 

Here  then  was  before  the  prospective  subscriber  a 
very  capable  solicitor,  with  a  good  looking  book  in  its 
thirteenth  volume,  patronized  in  Kansas  City,  for  in- 
stance, by  four  of  the  best  known  commercial  firms  in 
the  West.  What  was  the  natural  inference?  That  the 
proposition  was  worthy.  Immediate  result,  a  contract; 
ultimate  result,  no  business,  disappointment,  distrust  of 
all  list  propositions. 

This  is  but  a  sample  case.  There  are  scores  of  such 
lists  fattening  on  the  profession  through  fraudulent  rep- 
resentations, sometimes  on  the  lips  of  sleek  salesmen 
(and  some  of  the  smartest  salesmen  in  the  country  are 
engaged  in  this  business)  and  sometimes  by  a  lying  ap- 
peal to  the  eye  in  the  way  of  a  fake  book,  representing 
itself  to  be  something  when  it  is  nothing. 

I  have  had  solicitors  tell  me  that,  next  to  bankers, 
lawyers  are  the  easiest  marks  in  the  world,  and  I  have 
not  had  the  heart  to  take  issue  with  them. 

The  Commercial  Law  and  Collection  world  must  take 
steps  to  put  an  end  to  these  frauds.  It  is  not  correct  to 
say  that  only  the  suckers  are  caught ;  I  have  yet  to  see 
the  Commercial  Lawyer  who  is  invulnerable  to  the  in- 
sidious wiles  of  these  propositions.  One  of  my  oldest 
and  best  friends  gave  up  $300  for  a  piece  of  waste  paper, 
even  after  I  had  advised  against  it,  and  he  later  admit- 
ted to  me  that  the  older  he  grew  and  the  more  he  knew 
the  "easier"  he  was. 

I  haven't  very  much  sympathy  for  the  old  and  ex- 
perienced practitioner  who  gets  on  the  hook,  but  I  do 
have  much  for  the  thousands  of  young  men  who  annu- 
ally take  up  the  specialty  of  Commercial  Law  and  hun- 


152  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ger  for  a  way  into  a  clientage  which  the  Law  List  pre- 
sents to  them.  It  is  this  class  of  men  who  serve  to  keep 
the  worthless  lists  alive.  The  publishers  go  on  the 
theory  that  "a  fool  is  born  every  minute."  All  they 
need  do  is  find  the  fool. 

I  have  tried  to  figure  out  the  amount  of  money  squan- 
dered by  lawyers  on  worthless  list  schemes  annually  in 
this  country,  and  the  figures  made  me  dizzy.  A  Law 
List  publisher  thinks  he  is  doing  nothing  at  all  if  he 
fails  to  fetch  a  gross  $5,000  annually  for  his  list,  and  the 
greater  number  figure  on  two  to  three  times  this 
amount.  There  are  easily  seventy-five  lists  in  the 
gambling  class — or  lists  that  prove  worthless  to  ninety 
per  cent  of  their  patrons.  Therefore  from  a  half  a  million 
to  a  million  dollars  is  obtained  by  a  few  irresponsible 
list  publishers  out  of  the  legal  profession,  for  which  it 
gets  a  return  not  worth  mentioning.  Is  it  not  worth 
while  to  seriously  consider  what  should  be  done  with  an 
evil  of  this  magnitude? 

There  is  another  bad  feature  of  this  business.  Every 
disgruntled,  disappointed,  cheated  list  subscriber  is 
spoiled  for  the  better  class  of  lists  and  made  to  suspect 
the  whole  system.  Often  he  is  driven  from  the  com- 
mercial practice  entirely  by  a  few  such  experiences. 

If  it  is  true,  and  that  is  conceded,  that  we  need  Law 
Lists  at  all,  we  should  see  that  those  conducted  on  right 
lines  succeed  and  that  those  not  so  conducted  should 
fail.  The  best  lists  cannot  succeed  as  they  should 
until  every  "skate,"  every  fake,  every  fly-by-night  is 
branded  and  run  out  of  business. 

It  is  the  rarest  thing  in  the  world  when  one  of  these 
fake  propositions  is  not  financed  wholly  by  the  lawyers 
who  patronize  it.  The  stock  in  trade  of  these  concerns 
is  invariably  a  printer's  bill  and  unlimited  nerve. 
It  goes  without  saying,  then,  that  beyond  printing 
enough  books  to  supply  the  lawyers  who  pay  for  the 


AND   HIS   WORK  153 

insertion  of  their  names  they  know  no  such  thing  as 
"circulation." 

I  believe  the  time  will  come  when  the  C.  L.  L.  A. 
will  enroll  every  reputable  Commercial  Lawyer  in  the 
country  in  its  membership,  and  that  no  member  will 
make  a  list  contract  without  consulting  the  League's 
secretary  by  wire,  telephone  or  letter. 

I  further  believe  that  the  League  will  go  a  step  far- 
ther than  merely  giving  advice  on  an  inquiry  being 
made.  I  believe  it  will  demand  that  a  board  of  good, 
fair  men  sit  on  all  list  propositions,  determine  their  fair- 
ness, classify  them  and  advise  the  entire  membership 
of  their  decisions,  this  in  addition  to  its  present  biennial 
report  of  the  experience  of  its  members. 

I  believe  further  that  a  fund  will  be  established  by 
the  League,  to  be  added  to  from  year  to  year,  to  prose- 
cute fraudulent  list  publishing  schemers,  as  well  as 
other  frauds  that  find  the  lawyer  good  plucking. 

I  believe  further  that  the  growth  in  number  and  in- 
fluence of  local  associations  of  Commercial  Lawyers, 
where  all  sit  together  occasionally  about  a  common 
table  and  talk  shop,  over  soup  and  nuts,  will  drive  the 
unworthy  into  a  corner. 

At  a  meeting  of  Commercial  Lawyers  recently  held, 
it  came  out  in  a  desultory  discussion  that  three  firms 
represented  at  the  table  had  paid  for  sole  representation 
in  a  certain  directory  covering  the  same  period.  That 
directory  publisher  was  then  a  member  of  the  League. 
He  has  since  been  expelled.  Were  it  not  for  that  meet- 
ing these  three  firms  would  have  been  blissfully  igno- 
rant of  the  fact  that  three  different  books  had  been 
printed  for  that  town,  each  firm  being  sole  attorney  in 
one  of  them. 

At  another  meeting  it  came  out  that  prices  were  be- 
ing juggled  for  that  town,  some  being  charged  more 
than  others,  and  for  no  good  reason. 


154  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

When  lawyers  engaged  in  the  commercial  practice 
come  to  see  the  value  of  this  get-together  idea  there  will 
come  the  dawn  of  a  new  day  for  them. 

I  am  sure  that  when  the  four  things  above  enumer- 
ated come  to  pass,  the  Colonel  Sellers  of  the  list  world 
will  be  seeking  other  employment. 

I  am  wondering  how  long  receiving  attorneys  will 
support  Law  Lists  which  charge  them  for  "representa- 
tion" a  good  round  figure  and  then  proceed  to  give  away 
or  sell  at  nominal  figures  every  conceivable  form  of  di- 
rect demand  letter,  bank  draft,  etc.,  whereby  the  client 
may  get  his  money  without  the  lawyer. 

It  is  as  if  the  publisher  said  to  the  lawyers,  "pay  me 
your  money  and  I  will  get  you  business,"  and  then 
turned  to  the  business  man  and  said,  "pay  me  and  I  will 
keep  you  out  of  the  hands  of  lawyers." 

I  am  coming  more  and  more  to  respect  the  Hubbell 
style  of  Legal  Directory,  where  there  is  a  fixed  price  for 
cards  and  the  publisher  works  for  the  lawyer,  or  at  least 
does  not  lay  awake  nights  devising  cheap  schemes  by 
which  business  men  may,  through  them,  circumvent 
the  lawyer. 

Some  of  the  worst  sinners  in  this  regard  are  among 
the  widest  known  and  most  reputable  lists.  I  am  won- 
dering what  the  publishers  could  really  do  for  their 
"representatives,"  who  are  now  doing  much  complaining 
of  the  rapidly  rising  scale  of  prices  for  representation, 
if  they  devoted  half  the  energy  to  getting  profitable 
business  for  them  that  they  devote  to  keeping  business 
out  of  their  hands. 

If  the  "attorney  representatives"  of  some  of  these 
lists  could  read  the  circulars  sent  by  the  latter  to  busi- 
ness men,  in  which  is  shown  the  other  side  of  the  shield, 
Rome  would  howl. 

But  the  publisher  says,  "we  are  doing  this  in  the  in- 
terests of  business  generally.  It  is  for  the  good  of  the 
business  world  that  we  enable  them  to  realize  on  their 


AND    HIS    WORK  155 

credits  as  cheaply  as  possible."  Then,  I  say,  devote 
yourselves  to  that  and  give  to  the  business  world  a 
list  of  attorneys  they  may  use  in  the  last  extremity  and 
make  that  a  part  of  your  humantarian  and  altruistic  ef- 
fort, but  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  good  don't  spoil  your 
idealism  and  your  philanthrophy  by  turning  to  the  law- 
yer element  of  the  business  world  and  hypocritically 
saying,  "pay  us  big  money,  for  we  need  it  to  get  you  the 
business." 

Few  lawyers  realize  how  many  and  what  processes 
business  goes  through  nowadays  before  it  finally  reaches 
them.  The  free  demand  letter  (often  sold  by  the  pub- 
lisher at  so  much  a  quire),  the  two  per  cent  or  three  per 
cent  or  the  free  draft,  the  direct  agency  effort,  then  fin- 
ally the  lawyer. 

And  just  recently  I  saw  a  letter  to  a  New  York  house 
written  by  a  New  York  lawyer,  a  League  member, 
offering  to  write  one  personal  letter  on  his  stationery  to 
as  many  of  the  firm's  delinquent  debtors  as  the  firm 
might  name,  for  the  period  of  one  year,  for  fifteen  dol- 
lars !  Shades  of  Mansfield !  To  what  depths  of  pro- 
fessional infamy  will  not  good  men  descend !  And  this 
is  but  one  example  of  the  quirks  and  turns  being  used 
by  forwarding  attorneys  and  agencies  to  make  money 
and  cheapen  this  whole  proposition.  Is  it  any  wonder 
there  is  a  great  and  growing  number  of  business  men 
who  pooh,  pooh  the  lawyer?     He  belittles  himself. 

I  again  ask  how  long  lawyers  will  patronize  agencies 
and  lists  which  with  one  hand  give  them  business  and 
with  the  other  take  it  away  from  them? 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  by  reason  of  the  Commercial 
Law  League  of  America,  its  bulletins  and  its  conven- 
tions, lawyers  are  coming  to  learn  what  is  going  on  and 
are  coming  to  know  how  to  distinguish  between  the  true 
and  the  false. 

But  I  give  this  warning :  It  is  not  so  much  the  little 
fellow    in    the    publishing    world    that    is    playing    the 


156  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

double  game.  His  playing  it,  indeed,  would  do  little 
harm.  It  is  some  of  those  who  give  lawyers  the  most 
business.  I  do  not  complain  of  their  giving  much  (and 
it  is  none  too  much  at  the  best),  but  I  do  complain  that 
they  give  less  than  they  might,  by  putting  every  ob- 
stacle possible  in  the  way  of  a  delinquent  claim  reaching 
attorney's  hands  and  dividing  the  profit  of  the  trans- 
action between  the  clients  and  themselves. 

To  my  mind  it  is  not  so  much  the  fault  of  the  reput- 
able law  lists  that  the  lawyer  who  subscribes  for  and 
obtains  representation  is  not  treated  fairly  in  the  mat- 
ter of  business,  but  it  is  with  the  unfair  jobber  or  dealer 
with  whom  such  lists  are  placed. 

They  seem  to  have  no  conscientious  scruples  about 
taking  the  lawyer's  time  (which  to  the  busy  one  is  a 
very  valuable  asset)  to  answer  requests  for  reports  as 
to  the  credit  and  financial  standing  of  existing  and  pros- 
pective customers,  with  the  usual  promise  of  business 
in  return  as  compensation.  This  promise  is  the  allur- 
ing snare  which  catches  us  all.  It  is  usually  an  empty 
one,  made  with  a  mental  reservation,  and  when  the  time 
comes  when  it  could  be  kept,  and  when  it  might  be  pos- 
sible to  "put  a  little  water  upon  the  wheel"  of  the  cor- 
respondent by  placing  in  his  hands  some  collection  or 
other  business,  the  law  list  is  not  again  referred  to,  but 
the  claim  or  business  is  at  once  placed  with  some  local 
attorney  who,  if  he  is  within  reaching  distance  of  the 
debtor  and  the  claim  sufficiently  large  to  indicate  a  fairly 
decent  fee  will  look  after  it  in  person  or  through  some 
clerk  in  his  ofifice,  or  if  it  is  a  small,  doubtful  matter  and 
one  which  will  require  much  effort  to  collect,  will  be  for- 
warded upon  a  division  of  fees  to  some  attorney  on  the 
ground  floor  (where  it  should  have  gone  in  the  first  in- 
stance) but  frequently  lodging  in  the  hands  of  some  one 
other  than  the  one  who  has  been  so  systematically 
worked  for  reports ;  or  the  merchant  of  jobber  may  place 
it  with  some  collection  agency  or  often  with  an  adjust- 


AND    HIS    WORK  157 

mcnt  bureau,  most  of  which  attempt  to  go  outside  their 
legitimate  field  and  enter  the  field  as  commercial  or  col- 
lection agencies. 

The  live  wire,  the  attorney  who  strives  to  keep  in 
touch  with  credit  conditions  and  make  reports  promptly 
and  in  detail,  ought  surely  to  be  the  one  in  all  fairness 
to  whom  such  business  could  be  entrusted,  and  who, 
knowing  conditions,  will  usually  give  as  good  or  better 
service  than  another,  especially  when  he  has  the  in- 
centive of  a  small  fee  which  he  does  not  have  to  split 
it  with  some  one  else. 

The  question  is,  how  can  the  publishers  of  law  lists 
correct  these  evils? 

Unless  relief  can  be  had  from  some  sourse,  Bar  as- 
sociations will  in  many  places  take  the  matter  in  hand 
and  fix  an  adequate  charge  for  a  reporting  service. 

It  requires  today  a  large  capital  and  much  influence 
and  a  wise  plan  to  put  a  law  list  on  its  feet.  This  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  true,  for  the  lawyers  of  the  coun- 
try are  coming  to  understand  the  situation  and  rely  upon 
the  information  of  the  League. 

The  League  has  no  desire,  if  indeed  it  had  a  right, 
to  stop  a  worthy  enterprise.  It  believes,  however,  that 
in  the  present  situation  there  are  enough  law  lists  to 
serve  the  country  acceptably — indeed,  more  than  enough. 
More  law  lists  than  we  have  now  would  not  increase  the 
business  of  the  lawyer,  but  simply  multiply  the  chan- 
nels through  which  it  flows  and  makes  it  necessary,  if 
the  lawyer  retains  his  business,  that  he  assume  more 
law  list  contract  obligations  and  pay  out  more  money. 
Neither  the  mercantile  world  nor  the  lawyers  need  more 
law  lists. 

Men  who  are  investing  their  money  and  their  faith 
in  new  propositions  of  this  kind  are  doing  so  without 
proper  information  as  to  the  conditions.  It  would  al- 
most seem  to  be  some  one's  duty  to  put  prospective  in- 
vestors in  such  enterprises  into  possession  of  the  facts. 


158  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

There  are  four  score  or  more  law  lists  that  the  country 
can  well  do  without.  The  publishers,  we  believe,  are 
finding  this  out ;  but  the  trouble  is  that  instead  of 
closing  up  their  business  and  going  into  something  more 
remunerative  and  more  in  demand,  they  seek  to  unload 
their  holdings  on  new  and  inexperienced  men,  who,  in 
turn,  have  to  learn  by  experience  that  they  have  white 
elephants. 

We  have  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  for  the  list  pub- 
lisher. It  is  not  an  easy  business  and  there  is  no  such 
thing  in  it  as  easy  money  under  the  usual  conditions. 
There  are  a  few  such  projects  that  have  made  and  are 
making  big  money,  but  the  great  majority  are  sledding 
along  on  thin  ice,  a  large  number  of  them,  if  the  facts 
were  known,  being  heavily  in  debt.  To  keep  going  at 
all  they  are  led  into  practices  that  are  not  commendable, 
to  say  the  least. 

Some  of  these  lists  are  an  absolute  injury  to  the  com- 
mercial world,  as,  after  men  have  invested  their  capital 
in  them,  there  are  not  sufficient  returns  to  the  enter- 
prise to  enable  the  publishers  to  spend  the  money  re- 
quired to  keep  them  up  to  the  proper  standard.  It  would 
be  better  for  all  concerned  if  such  propositions  could 
be  entirely  eliminated. 

The  law  lists  are  mostly  to  blame  for  a  condition 
that  is  much  to  be  deplored.  There  are  many  small 
cities  and  towns  in  the  country  where  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible for  a  new  man  to  break  into  the  commercial  law 
field  for  the  reason  that  the  bulk  of  the  forwarding  busi- 
ness is  controlled  by  a  comparatively  few  law  lists,  and 
these  lists,  whether  purposely  or  otherwise,  very  largely 
employ  in  these  localities  the  same  individuals,  so  that 
there  comes  to  be  a  commercial  law  and  collection 
monopoly. 

I  have  had  many  earnest  letters  from  lawyers  in  good 
size  cities  stating  that  they  are  anxious  to  get  into  the 
commercial  game  but  that  they  find  no  opening,  that  the 


AND   HIS   WORK  159 

law  lists  will  not  accept  them  because  representation  is 
already  contracted  for.  On  investigation,  it  is  found 
usually  that  the  various  law  lists  employ  (at  the  most) 
two  or  three,  or  four,  firms,  or  individuals.  The  likely 
candidate  for  the  commercial  law  field  is  therefore  dis- 
couraged and  enters  another  field.  On  the  day  that  I 
dictated  this  for  publication,  I  received  a  letter  from  a 
lawyer  in  a  large  Kansas  city  who  tells  me  that  he  is 
desirous  of  adding  a  commercial  department  to  his  office 
in  order  to  give  his  son,  who  is  just  graduating  from  a 
law  school,  an  opportunity  to  at  once  get  into  employ- 
ment, and  finally  build  for  himself  a  general  practice. 
He  asks  me  how  the  young  man,  aided  by  him,  can 
get  into  the  field.  I  am  at  a  total  loss  to  tell  him 
how,  because  I  discover  that  the  field  is  monopolized  by 
a  few  firms  and  that  it  is  entirely  unlikely  that  this  law- 
yer can,  for  himself  and  his  son,  make  any  impressH.n 
whatever  upon  the  forwarding  world  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  the  avenues  through  which  the  business  comes 
are  closed  to  them. 

This  condition,  more  than  any  other  condition  that 
I  know  of,  is  hurting  the  commercial  law  business,  as 
many  a  man  attempts  to  transact  this  sort  of  business 
and  organizes  his  office  for  it  only  to  find  that  he  is  un- 
able to  control  enough  of  it  to  pay  expenses,  not  to 
speak  of  making  a  profit.  I  do  not  know  that  this  con- 
dition can  be  remedied  by  the  law  list  publishers,  but  an 
efifort  might  be  made  to  do  so.  The  subject  is  worthy 
of  consideration  by  the  "Law  List  Conference." 

A  new  development  of  recent  years  in  the  commer- 
cial law  and  collection  field  is  the  bonding  of  attorneys. 
Our  fathers  and  grandfathers  in  the  law  would  have 
held  up  their  hands  in  holy  horror  at  the  idea  of  a  law- 
yer being  bonded  to  perform  his  duty,  by  a  surety  com- 
pany. 

The  ethical  lawyer  stands  aghast  at  the  idea.  How- 
ever, the  bonding  of  the  commercial  attorney  is  here,  and 


160  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

probably  here  to  stay.  It  has  seemed  to  come  along 
with  some  other  undesirable  things  as  a  necessity  of 
modern  business. 

There  is  coming  to  be  less  and  less  sentiment  about 
business.  The  average  man  is  getting  over  his  feeling 
of  veneration  for  the  profession  of  the  law.  A  lawyer, 
nowadays,  is  being  judged  by  what  he  does  and  what  he 
does  not  do,  and  not  by  the  fact  that  he  holds  a  license 
to  do  his  business  received  from  the  state  on  examina- 
tion of  his  qualifications. 

The  law  list,  and  particularly  the  law  list  that  is 
owned  or  controlled  by  people  interested  in  surety  com- 
panies, is  responsible  for  this  new  development.  It  took 
but  one  law  list  to  adopt  this  bonding  feature  to  make  it 
necessary  for  all  the  others  to  do  so,  since  the  talking 
point  thus  given  in  favor  of  the  bonded  list  was  a  decided 
advantage  to  it.  Now,  merchants  and  manufacturers, 
and  professional  men  generally,  in  the  sending  out  of 
their  business  select  a  bonded  list.  It  does  no  good  to 
cry  out  against  it  and  stigmatize  it  as  unethical.  The 
modern  commercial  lawyer  must  submit  to  be  bonded 
or  get  out  of  the  business.  He  is,  therefore,  accepting 
the  inevitable. 

Some  lawyers,  not  being  able  to  get  into  bonded  lists 
by  reason  of  the  representation  therein  being  sold  to 
others,  are  bonding  themselves  in  surety  companies,  or 
depositing  stocks  and  bonds  with  trustees  as  security 
for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  professional  duties. 
All  of  this  must  strike  the  old-time  lawyer  and  the  ethi- 
cal lawyer  as  very  unsatisfactory  and  very  unbecoming 
in  the  professional  man.  The  lawyer,  however,  in  this 
as  in  many  other  directions,  is  up  against  the  propositon 
of  falling  into  line  with  modern  requirements  or  chang- 
ing his  business. 

An  illustration  of  how  a  man  who  loses  his  represen- 
tation in  the  bonded  list  is  forced  to  bond  himself  if  he 
desires  to  retain  any  commercial  business  at  all  is  fur- 


AND    HIS    WORK  161 

nished  in  the  case  of  L.  E.  Hinton,  of  Little  Rock,  Ar- 
kansas, who  retired  for  a  time  from  business  on  account 
of  ill-health,  giving  up  representation  in  the  leading  law 
lists,  and  who,  on  the  recovery  of  his  health,  attempted 
to  return  to  the  practice  but  found  the  old  avenues  of 
business  by  way  of  the  law  lists  closed  to  him  by  reason 
of  contracts  made  with  others.  Realizing  that  the  com- 
mercial world  was  requiring  that  receivers  be  bonded,  he 
deposited  $10,000.00  in  Government  bonds  with  a  trust 
company  in  Little  Rock  conditioned  on  his  faithful  per- 
formance of  his  professional  duties  and  accounting  to 
his  clients  for  moneys  collected,  etc.  When  Mr.  Hinton 
sent  me  a  copy  of  his  bond,  beautifully  engraved,  accus- 
tomed as  I  was  to  the  bonding  feature  of  the  law  busi- 
ness, I  felt  a  distinct  shock,  though  I  am  not  over-ethical 
in  my  composition. 

Attorneys  should  keep  a  record  of  the  business  re- 
ceived over  the  lists  they  represent  and  in  contracting 
for  representation  should  always  give  their  moral  and 
financial  support  to  those  lists  that  deal  fairly  with  the 
attorneys  and  those  who  use  their  directory  as  a  guide 
in  sending  out  business.  In  other  words,  they  should  as- 
sist those  publishers  who  have  an  established  record  for 
controlling  business  and  are  willing  to  assist  them,  and 
should  discontinue  support  to  those  who  constantly  seek 
to  hold  them  up.  The  managers  of  the  leading  lists  are 
gentlemen  of  high  character  who  will  always  be  found 
fair  with  those  who  are  fair  to  them.  They  feel  that  the 
support  given  unfair  publishers  and  agencies  is  one  of 
their  greatest  hindrances  in  their  endeavor  to  advance 
lawyers'  interests. 

Some  of, the  publishers  of  law  lists,  in  securing  con- 
tracts and  compiling  their  lists  of  attorneys,  are  gov- 
erned entirely  by  the  amount  of  subscription  or  repre- 
sentation fee  they  are  able  to  obtain,  without  reference 
to  the  qualification  or  standing  of  the  attorney  whose 
name  they  publish.     Figuratively  speaking,  these  pub- 


162  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Ushers  put  their  lists  on  the  auction  block  every  year 
and  sell  it  to  the  highest  bidder.  Fortunately  this  prac- 
tice is  not  indulged  in  by  the  managers  and  publishers  of 
the  leading  lists.  They  look  first  and  above  all  to  the 
character,  ability  and  standing  of  those  whose  names 
they  publish.  That  there  are  occasional  lapses  from 
this  rule  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Self-interest  requires  that 
the  publisher  pay  close  attention  to  the  personnel  of  his 
list,  as  his  bonding  scheme  would  make  any  other  course 
too  hazardous. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  has  de- 
clared that  it  will  hear  complaints  against  Law  Lists  on 
the  following  grounds : 

1.  Misrepresenting  the  quantity  and  quality  of  their 
circulation  or  any  material  matter  that  might  influence 
an  attorney  in  buying  representation. 

2.  Placing  copies  with  their  subscribers  or  with  oth- 
ers who  are  known  to  use  them  for  the  purpose  only  of 
obtaining  commercial  reports,  or  are  known  to  have  no 
business  for  attorneys. 

3.  Failing  to  issue  bona  fide  editions  of  their  direc- 
tories as  advertised,  or  as  agreed  or  contemplated  in  the 
representative's  contract. 

4.  Buying  business  for  their  attorneys,  directly  or 
indirectly,  or  by  any  subterfuge,  by  which  their  attor- 
neys become  participants  in  the  benefits,  and  thereby 
really  parties  to  the  transaction  and  liable  to  be  discip- 
lined for  unethical  conduct. 

5.  Neglecting  or  refusing  to  stand  by  their  agree- 
ment with  their  attorneys,  or  their  guaranty  agreement 
with  their  subscribers,  without  just  cause. 

6.  Furnishing  by  sale  or  otherwise  to  their  subscrib- 
ers dunning  letters,  notices  or  forms  containing  blanks 
to  be  filled  with  the  names  of  their  attorney  representa- 
tives, whereby  their  subscribers  may  use  such  attor- 
neys' names  and  influence  in  obtaining  settlements 
against   debtors   without   the   knowledge  of  these   pro- 


AND    HIS    WORK  163 

ceedings  being  given  the  attorneys  and  without  their 
being  compensated  for  such  unwarranted  use  of  their 
names. 

7.  Exacting  of  a  forwarder,  as  a  condition  of  repre- 
sentation in  a  law  list,  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  the 
forwarder  to  send  all  or  a  fixed  part  of  his  forwarding 
items  over  a  specifically  named  law  list. 

8.  Using  claim  coupons  as  a  demonstration  to  at- 
torneys of  the  business  getting  qualities  of  the  list  with- 
out advising  the  attorneys  as  to  whether  the  clients 
represented  by  the  coupons  use  the  list  as  a  preferred 
list. 

THE  LAWYER  AND  THE  AGENCY. 

Indiscriminate  abuse  of  collection  agencies  is  unfair. 
That  there  are  bad  collection  agencies  is  true,  but  no 
truer  than  that  there  are  bad  lawyers.  A  judging  of  all 
by  the  delinquencies  of  a  few  (a  course  indulged  in  by 
some  lawyers),  is  on  a  par  with  the  damning  of  the 
legal  profession  by  the  general  public  because  of  the  ras- 
cality of  a  few  of  its  members. 

I  hold  no  brief  for  the  collection  agency.  I  am  not 
an  "agency  man"  and  never  was,  save  for  a  few  months 
back  in  1889,  when  I  was  inveigled  into  accepting  the 
local  secretaryship  of  a  well  known  general  agency,  and 
endeavored  to  splice  it  on  to  my  work  as  a  practicing 
lawyer,  and  with  poor  success ;  but  I  believe  in  fair  play. 

To  judge  from  the  attacks  made  upon  it,  you  might 
think  the  Vvdiole  agency  system  was  harmful  and  should 
be  done  away  with,  and  that  direct  dealings  between  the 
mercantile  world  (the  chief  and  almost  sole  client  of  the 
agency)  and  the  lawyer  would  be  a  more  wholesome 
and  satisfactory  system. 

Now,  while  I  naturally  side  with  tlie  lawyer  in  his 
views,  I  take  issue  with  him  here.  The  agency  I  believe 
to  be  a  necessity  to  lawyer  and  client  alike.  The  agency 
serves  as  a  prod  to  the  merchant,  and  it  goes  after  and 


164  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

gets  for  the  lawyer  what  the  lawyer  cannot  go  after  and 
get  for  himself.  It  trains  the  client  to  stricter  looking 
after  his  delinquents,  and  it  trains  the  lawyer  to  a  more 
prompt,  systematic  handling  of  commercial  claims. 

The  agency,  getting  in  business  on  a  big  scale  and 
making  its  money  by  a  prompt,  continuous,  persistent 
looking  after  details,  is  forced  to  adopt  system  and 
thoroughness.  In  no  other  way  can  it  holds  its  clients 
and  make  its  salt.  The  agency,  let  it  be  known,  was 
systematic  long  before  the  lawyer  was,  and  much  of  the 
latter  day  machinery  and  methods  of  the  commercial 
lawyer's  office  is  the  result  of  the  repeated  demands  of 
the  agencies. 

I  recall  a  talk  I  had  with  E.  J.  Wilber  thirty-five  years 
ago  in  his  Chicago  office,  when  the  burden  of  his  plaint 
was  the  slipshod,  unsystematic,  irresponsive  and  ofttimes 
irresponsible  lawyer.  That  was  before  the  day  of  the 
modern  commercial  lawyer,  with  his  up-to-date  equip- 
ment, his  wide  acquaintance  with  men  and  methods,  his 
League  and  his  literature.  The  agencies,  I  say,  brought 
much  of  the  improvement  about  by  the  necessity  they 
were  under  of  reporting  results  to  clients,  the  most  of 
whom  were  right  at  their  doors  wanting  returns  as  soon 
as  they  let  go  of  their  claims. 

The  agencies,  I  have  said,  are  a  prod  to  the  merchant. 
Do  I  need  to  tell  you  how?  I  am  in  the  bounds  of  rea- 
son when  I  say  that  the  average  business  establishment, 
particularly  if  prosperous,  is  too  busy  making  money  to 
give  strict  attention  to  delinquent  accounts.  Often  the 
collection  manager  is  a  hard-worked  bookkeeper.  His 
books  must  be  kept  to  date,  they  must  balance  daily. 
Current  business  calls  for  his  time.  The  accounts  that 
are  coming  slowly  worry  him,  but  they  can  wait  till  the 
current  v/ork  is  finished,  and  that  is  never  finished;  then 
there  is  always  the  hope  that  the  delinquent  will  pay  up ; 
and  there  is  always  the  temptation  to  give  him  a  chance. 


AND   HIS    WORK  165 

The  bookkeeper's  effort  to  collect  is  often  spasmodic, 
weak,  easily  discouraged.  The  agency  is  in  the  busi- 
ness of  collecting;  it  does  nothing  else;  its  solicitors  are 
constantly  "on  the  street"  and  wherever  they  can  get  a 
hearing  they  are  begging  for  a  chance  at  the  slow  pay- 
ers. I  am  not  exaggerating  when  I  say  that  millions 
of  dollars  in  fees  have  been  earned  by  lawyers  from  ac- 
counts and  bills  receivable  literally  wrung  from  clients 
by  the  persistent  agency  solicitor.  All  this  is  salvation 
to  many  a  merchant  and  helpful  to  many  a  lawyer. 

I  recall  a  case  in  point.  I  had  a  client  in  the  eighties 
who  was  an  old  time  jobber  in  the  line  of  hats  and  caps, 
with  a  big  store  on  Jefferson  avenue  in  Detroit.  He 
brought  me  in  a  $500  claim  one  day.  The  debits  and 
credits  had  been  running  for  years,  the  debit  side  slowly 
gaining,  until  a  sudden  halt  in  payments  on  account  had 
fully  awakened  attention.  "Be  easy  with  this  man," 
said  my  old  friend,  "he  has  been  a  buyer  from  me  for 
years." 

"I  fear,"  said  I,  "your  customer  needs  drastic  treat- 
ment. You  want  and  need  your  money.  Better  let 
me  get  it.  By  the  way,"  I  continued,  "how  many  more 
such  'friends'  have  you  in  the  trade?"  and  here  I  drew 
out  the  truth  that  I  suspected.  As  a  jobber  my  friend 
had  been  slowly  going  to  the  wall.  His  answer  be- 
trayed the  reason.  "I  have  been  too  easy,  I  fear."  The 
old  man  failed  and  among  his  chief  assets  were  accounts 
and  bills  receivable  running  into  the  thousands  of  dol- 
lars, that  had  simply  gone  stale  from  his  failure  to  push 
them.  He  never  employed  a  collection  agency,  though, 
as  he  confessed  to  me,  his  life  had  been  made  miserable 
by  their  constant  solicitations.  Now,  for  every  one  mer- 
chant who  resists  the  agency  solicitations  there  are 
thousands  who  yield,  often  against  their  will,  and  are 
thereby  compelled  to  keep  their  accounts  grinding  be- 
cause under  an  agency  contract  they  must  do  so,  and 
some  one  is  always  nagging  them  to  see  that  they  do. 


166  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

The  ethics  of  the  legal  profession  debars  the  lawyer 
from  going  to  the  merchant  and  coaxing  business  from 
him.  He  must  wait  the  merchant's  move  and,  as  I  have 
hinted,  no  matter  how  great  a  business  producer  the 
merchant  may  be,  it  is  exceptional  when  he  is  a  good 
collector. 

The  agency  supplies  the  prod  to  the  merchant  and 
runs  the  errands  of  the  lawyer.  Without  the  agency 
the  slow  bookkeeper  would  be  slower  still,  the  forgetful 
office  man  would  be  more  forgetful  still,  the  busy  man 
would  be  busier  still,  and  good  business  with  good  fees 
to  the  lawyer  would  slumber  the  sleep  of  death. 

That  there  are  fraudulent,  incompetent  agencies,  that 
there  are  abuses,  that  there  are  many  things  to  find  fault 
with  and  remedy — well,  that  is  another  matter.  The 
agency  system  itself  is  essentially  a  good  thing. 

What  is  the  true  function  of  the  collection  agency? 
Manifestly  it  is  to  collect;  so  far  we  are  agreed.  But 
how  far  can  it  or  should  it  go  in  pursuit  of  its  business 
and  not  trench  on  the  practice  of  the  law  and  rob  the 
professional  man  of  his  field  and  his  work.  Here  pos- 
sibly we  are  not  agreed. 

There  are  some  who  contend  the  agency  may  prop- 
erly and  as  a  matter  of  right  go  to  any  extent  necessary 
to  get  the  money  short  of  an  action  in  court.  Some  may 
not  claim  so  much,  but  their  practice  is  in  conformity 
with  this  view. 

Others  contend  that  there  is  a  limit  to  the  rightful 
activities  of  a  lay  agency  beyond  which  it  may  not  go 
without  invading  the  legitimate  territory  of  the  pro- 
fessional man. 

The  former  class  resort  to  every  imaginable  process 
to  realize  on  claims  short  of  lawyer  employment.  The 
greatest  ingenuity  is  displayed  in  its  work.  Books  are 
written  and  instructions  sold  by  men  who  claim  to  have 
discovered  ways  of  getting  along  without  the  lawyer. 
Agencies  openly  advertise  that  they  have  the  means  and 


AND    HIS  WORK  167 

the  ability  to  circumvent  the  lawyer  and  offer  cheap  in- 
ducements to  lay  employment,  which  catch  the  credit 
man  or  the  merchant  himself  who,  as  a  rule,  sees  only 
the  first  cost  of  cheap  methods  and  never  wakes  up  to 
the  ultimate  cost  till  it  is  too  late. 

Cleverly  worded  direct  demand  letters  on  agency 
letter-heads  are  sold  in  great  quantities  to  business  men 
at  a  nominal  cost.  Books  of  blank  drafts  in  various 
formidable  forms  are  sold  at  given  prices  to  merchants 
in  the  expectation  that  if  payments  are  made  the  agency 
will  realize  a  two  or  three  per  cent. 

In  some  cases  these  drafts  are  sold  or  given  away  by 
agencies  that  control  law  lists  and  the  lawyer  represen- 
tatives in  these  lists  are  named  in  the  drafts  coupled 
with  threats.  In  case  the  drafts  are  not  paid  the  claims 
are  supposed  to  fall  into  the  agency  hopper  to  be  worked 
in  other  ways  too  numerous  to  mention.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that  in  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the  cases  every  con- 
ceivable effort  is  made  direct  before  the  lawyer  is  em- 
ployed. 

Agencies,  and  some  lawyers  who  are  merely  laymen 
in  disguise  and  are  a  disgrace  to  the  profession,  sell  their 
own  letter-heads  to  be  used  by  merchants. 

Some  offer  to  send  duns  to  delinquent  debtors  over 
their  own  signatures  at  a  nominal  rate  per  annum  in  any 
number — in  one  case  at  $15  a  year. 

Some  promise  free  legal  advice.  Some  for  a  consid- 
eration agree  to  guarantee  results.  Some  hold  forth  the 
personal  adjustment  plan,  agreeing  to  send  trained  ad- 
justers to  interview  debtors,  giving  them  the  appearance 
of  being  direct  representatives  of  the  client. 

All  of  these  methods  and  more  are  held  out  as  in- 
ducements to  lay  employment,  coupled  with  the  insinu- 
ation, often  the  direct  statement,  that  lawyer  employ- 
ment is  to  be  shunned  as  neither  safe  nor  efffcient. 

The  result  of  the  daily  solicitation  of  the  merchant 
by  agency  solicitors  with  their  specious  arguments  is  the 


168  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

steady  spread  of  agency  employment  and  the  gradual 
narrowing  of  professional  employment  to  the  occasional 
direct  client  and  the  worked  out  agency  claims. 

These  questions  are  pertinent:  Is  it  fair  to  the  pro- 
fessional man?  Is  it  fair  to  the  business  man?  I  claim 
it  is  fair  to  neither.  It  is  unfair  to  the  professional  man 
in  that  it  breaks  the  fundamental  principle  of  business 
that  calls  on  men  not  only  to  live  but  to  let  live.  Pri- 
marily the  enforcement  of  rights,  particularly  of  con- 
tract rights,  is  the  province  of  the  lawyer.  He  has  pre- 
pared himself  by  long  training  for  this  special  field  of 
work.  The  state  licenses  him  to  occupy  a  special  place 
of  confidence,  that  should  exist  between  principal  and 
agent  in  matters  dealing  with  legal  rights  and  obliga- 
tions. He  alone  may  advise  in  matters  having  a  legal 
bearing.  For  a  layman  to  do  this  is  for  him  to  attempt 
to  practice  law.  The  lawyer  alone  may  advise  and 
direct  in  matters  demanding  legal  interpretation,  and 
every  demand  has  its  legal  aspect. 

The  agency  is  usurping  the  lawyer's  functions.  It 
passes  on  the  legality  of  claims.  It  advises  as  to  bring- 
ing law  suits.  It  directs  suits  to  be  brought.  It  em- 
ploys lawyers.  It  gives  directions  as  to  the  process.  It 
does  for  the  client  often  all  the  lawyer  could  do,  except- 
ing the  actual  drawing  of  legal  papers,  and  it  often  does 
this,  and  appearance  in  court,  and  the  latter  it  does  often 
through  salaried  employes  admitted  to  practice  law. 

The  modern  agency  does  the  lawyer's  work  up  to  the 
door  of  the  courthouse. 

And  this  process  of  driving  the  lawyer  to  the  wall  is 
an  easy  one  because  of  an  artificial  handicap  the  lawyer 
has  put  upon  himself — his  codes  of  ethics,  which  pro- 
hibit his  soliciting  business  and  advertising  his  abili- 
ties and  his  facilities,  excepting  in  the  most  perfunctory 
way. 

True,  the  lawyer's  necessities  have  driven  him  to 
ways  of  circumventing  this  handicap,  as  by  organizing 


AND   HIS   WORK  169 

agencies  of  his  own  and  putting  laymen  in  charge,  and 
by  paying  large  sums  of  money — millions  of  dollars  an- 
nually in  the  aggregate  to  Law  List  publishers,  but  all 
of  these  verge  closely  on  the  unethical  and  fail  to  ap- 
peal to  the  great  majority  of  high-class  men  in  the  pro- 
fession. 

The  fact  is,  under  present  conditions,  the  lawyer 
must  do  one  of  two  things  or  lose  the  commercial  prac- 
tice— first,  disregard  his  codes  of  ethics,  or,  second,  take 
steps  to  confine  the  layman  wnthin  proper  bounds. 

There  are  some  who  will  say  that  the  success  of 
agency  eft'orts  justifies  their  existence.  This  might  be 
so  if  it  were  always  true  that  the  way  justifies  the 
means. 

An  agency  man,  answering  my  criticism  of  one  oi 
his  schemes,  said :  "It  does  the  work,  and,  therefore,  it 
is  justifiable.  If  it  serves  the  public  it  is  a  good  thing." 
The  same  defense  was  made  of  rebating,  underselling, 
putting  out  of  business  small  operators  and  dealers  by 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  at  one  time.  Our  methods, 
they  said,  give  uniform,  better  and  cheaper  oil  to  the 
public.  No  matter  as  to  the  individual's  right  to  em- 
ploy his  energies  and  capital  in  enterprise,  he  must  gc 
down  before  combination  of  wealth  and  power.  It  is 
the  spirit  of  "the  public  be  damned." 

The  agency  defense  is,  more  and  better  results  come 
from  our  methods,  therefore  the  lawyer  be  damned. 
We  will  use  him  only  as  a  last  resort  and  then  at  fee 
rates  that  we  will  ourselves  make  for  him. 

It  might  seem  from  this  that  I  am  the  foe  of  the 
agency  system.  I  am  not,  but  I  am  the  foe  of  every 
scheme  that  would  carry  that  system  to  the  extent  of 
putting  the  commercial  lawyer  out  of  business. 

If  you  will  study  the  history  of  the  Commercial  Law 
League  of  America,  whose  policies  I  have  helped  to 
shape,  and  my  writings  in  the  magazines  I  have  edited 


170  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

during  and  before  the  first  years  of  the  league's  history, 
and  if  you  will  read  other  pages  of  this  book  you  will 
learn  that  I  have  always  been  a  champion  of  the  hon- 
estly conducted  agency. 

Those  who  know  the  inside  history  of  the  Detroit 
convention  of  1895,  that  organized  the  league,  will  tell 
you  that  I  was  chairman  of  that  convention;  that  when 
the  convention  set  about  finding  officers  to  serve  the 
new  organization  I  was  asked  to  take  the  presidency 
and  refused,  giving  as  my  reason  that  in  a  sense  I  was 
the  host  and  the  convention  was  my  guest  and  that  I 
felt  it  would  be  improper  for  me  to  accept  an  office.  On 
its  transpiring  that  a  move  was  on  foot  fostered  by  cer- 
tain lawyers  at  that  convention  to  exclude  all  laymen 
from  the  new  organization  and  to  elect  a  corps  of  officers 
in  sympathy  with  the  move,  I  at  once  announced  my  can- 
didacy as  the  champion  of  the  lay  members  of  that  con- 
vention and  of  those  who  desired  a  league  of  commer- 
cial law  and  collection  interests,  professional  and  lay ; 
and  you  know  the  result. 

I  believe  in  the  honestly  conducted,  fair  spirited 
agency.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  conscienceless,  unprin- 
cipled concern  that  recognizes  no  limits  to  its  aggres- 
sion, wins  only  by  pulling  others  down  and  boasts  that 
because  the  public  buys  its  service  therefore  it  is  legiti- 
mate and  necessary. 

The  Sprague  Mercantile  Agency,  the  Barr  &  Widen 
concern  and  other  such  agencies  were  immensely  suc- 
cessful for  their  owners  for  many  years,  but  their  names 
are  now  only  a  stench.  These  are  only  examples  of 
agencies  run  by  men  who  cared  nothing  for  business 
decency  and  less  for  professional  decency.  The  failure 
of  one  of  these  brought  greater  loss  of  money  to  busi- 
ness men  than  was  lost  in  twenty  years  by  the  defalca- 
tions of  all  the  lawyers  in  a  whole  State  like  Illinois  or 
Missouri. 

The   money    lost    through    dishonest    lawyers    every 


AND    HIS   WORK  171 

year  is  but  a  bagatelle  to  what  is  lost  through  agencies. 
So,  while  the  agency  system  serves  a  legitimate  pur- 
pose, it  docs  so  only  when  conducted  honestly  and  in 
accord  with  fair  business  principles. 

Lawyers,  as  a  rule,  do  not  object  to  the  legitimate 
collection  agency.  They  know  it  performs  a  useful 
function  in  the  world  of  business,  but  the  agency  sys- 
tem, by  its  multitudinous  schemes  for  blocking  for  the 
business  man  the  avenues  of  approach  to  the  lawyer,  is 
winning  the  distrust  and  ofttimes  the  ill  will  of  the 
legal  fraternity,  which  is  bound  to  voice  itself  in  laws 
hostile  to  lay  activities  in  collection  fields,  as  is  already 
the  case  in  New  York,  Illinois,  Missouri  and  some 
other  jurisdictions. 

The  legal  profession  is  conservative  and  slow  in  pro- 
tecting itself,  but  when  it  is  once  aroused  it  has  the 
power  of  shaping  legislation  that  once  used  will  be  felt. 

An  agency  reaches  the  climax  of  unfairness  in  its 
dealings  with  the  lawyer  when  it  asks  a  price  for  send- 
ing him  its  business.  No  lawyer  with  any  respect  for 
himself  or  his  profession  will  pay  an  agency  for  busi- 
ness any  more  than  he  would  pay  a  client. 

In  some  cases  the  agency  makes  no  concealment  of 
the  real  nature  of  its  demand.  It  says,  in  substance,  to 
the  lawyer :  "We  are  spending  money  to  get  you  busi- 
ness. Our  business  is  worth  your  while.  Pay  us  five 
or  ten  dollars  to  help  us  secure  this  business  and  we 
will  make  you  our  representative."  There  is  no  pre- 
tense that  it  is  other  than  a  direct  demand  that  the  law- 
yer buy  business  or  pay  for  the  soliciting  of  it — two 
things  his  code  of  ethics  will  not  permit  him  to  do. 

Some  agencies  adopt  a  subterfuge  to  conceal  the 
true  nature  of  the  transaction.  They  are  not  list  pub- 
lishers. They,  of  course,  have,  as  all  agencies  have, 
their  office  list  of  correspondents.  This  list  is  for  their 
own  use  only.  The  specious  plea  is  made  that  the 
money    asked    is    for    representation    in    their    "Select 


172  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

List"  (various  names  are  used  to  characterize  it),  think- 
ing thus  to  give  the  lawyer  a  way  of  easing  his  con- 
science, since  he  can  say,  "I  am  paying  my  money  for 
Hst  representation."  The  lawyer  is  only  buying  busi- 
ness; he  is  not  buying  list  publicity. 

Another  method  of  lulling  the  lawyer's  conscience  or 
hoodwinking  him  is  to  offer  him  some  special  service  in 
the  way  of  information  as  to  the  value  of  Law  Lists, 
etc. — the  same  work  the  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America  does  for  its  members  free  of  charge.  Nobody 
in  his  right  mind  thinks  this  agency  is  selling  special 
service;  it  is  merely  doing  the  lawyer  out  of  a  bonus, 
because  it  practically  compels  the  lawyer  to  think,  if  it 
does  not  say  so  directly,  that  if  he  does  not  buy  the 
"special  service"  he  cannot  represent  the  agency. 

The  worst  of  it  is,  the  agencies  asking  a  bonus 
employ  the  most  extreme  methods  of  realizing  on  claims 
before  employing  the  lawyers  who  have  been  induced  to 
pay  them  for  their  business ;  and  not  only  that,  they 
will  be  found  invariably  offering  the  lowest  fee  rates  to 
their  attorneys;  and,  still  more,  they  invariably  ask  a 
rebate  of  one-third  and  in  some  cases  one-half  of  the 
fees  that  the  lawyer  earns  on  the  business  that  finally 
reaches  him. 

If  it  ever  happens  that  the  agency  offers  its  business 
for  a  bonus  and  promises  the  entire  fees  to  its  attorneys, 
the  unethical  aspect  of  the  question  still  remains,  and 
by  the  very  offer  it  indicates  its  inability  to  control  busi- 
ness for  its  representatives,  since  if  any  appreciable 
amount  of  business  could  be  sent  an  attorney  a  division 
of  fees  would  be  more  profitable  to  the  agency  than  the 
bonus  usually  asked. 

In  other  words,  an  agency  with  business  for  attor- 
neys could  not  afford  to  say  to  them,  "Pay  us  $5  and 
we  will  send  you  our  business  without  division  of  fees," 
since  a  division  of  fees  on  one  item  sent  is  likely  to  equal 
the  bonus,  and  on  several  or  many  items  much   more 


AND    HIS    WORK  I73 

than  equal  it.  The  offer  shows  the  agency  expects  to 
be  the  gainer  by  the  $5  bonus  plan ;  and,  if  so,  then  the 
lawyer  may  expect  to  be  the  loser. 

This  bonus  proposition  from  agencies  may  be  ex- 
pected when  a  lawyer  receives  a  good  piece  of  business 
from  them.  It  is  the  psychological  time  to  reach  him. 
Often  the  agency  will  sound  the  lawyer  first  by  intimat- 
mg  that  it  has  business  on  hand  which  it  is  prepared  to 
forward  if  the  lawyer  "comes  across,"  or  words  to  that 
effect.  In  all  such  cases  the  lawyer  should  refuse  and 
keep  his  self-respect. 

One  may  ask  what  is  the  difference  in  principle  be- 
tween paying  a  bonus  in  the  one  case  and  giving  up 
part  of  the  fee  in  another.  The  difference  is  great  and 
is  material.  The  giving  up  of  a  part  of  the  fee  is  always 
in  a  case  actually  in  hand,  where  the  fee  is  earned,  and 
the  Forwarder's  right  to  a  portion  of  the  fee  is  based  on 
the  proposition  that  the  Forwarder  and  Receiver  are  co- 
workers in  the  matter,  each  spending  time,  effort  and 
money  in  it.  The  Forwarder  receives  and  acknowl- 
edges the  claim,  dockets  it,  selects  the  lawyer  to  handle 
it,  forwards  it,  keeps  track  of  it,  sees  that  the  attorney 
acts  promptly  and  efficiently,  reports  to  clients  from 
time  to  time,  is  responsible  for  the  outcome  and  handles 
the  proceeds.  The  one-third  rebate  to  him  is  not  as 
compensation  for  obtaining  the  claim  in  the  first  in- 
stance. If  it  were,  it  should  never  be  allowed.  The 
"bonus,"  on  the  other  hand,  is  money  paid  usually  in 
advance  of  receipt  of  business  and  paid  to  help  the 
Forwarder  get  business. 

It  may  be  said  that  any  method  of  collecting  is  jus- 
tifiable that  compels  a  stubborn  debtor  to  liquidate  his 
debt.  The  United  States  postal  authorities  have  said 
no  and  the  courts  have  said  no. 

The  use  by  agences  of  forms  and  duns  that  are  in- 
tended to  reach  the  public  eye  and  bring  disgrace  to  the 
party  dunned  are  not  justifiable.     The  use  of  forms  of 


174  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

notice  that  appear  to  be  processes  or  orders  of  court  are 
not  allowable.  Vile  and  abusive  letters  and  the  inten- 
tional missending  of  letters  to  hurt  the  reputation  of  the 
debtor  are  not  to  be  used. 

Agencies  engaged  in  the  "dead-beat"  class  of  work 
and  employing  questionable  methods  should  be  them- 
selves blacklisted  and  shunned  by  all  decent  men, 
whether  laymen  or  lawyers. 

A  strenuous  effort  should  be  made  by  the  agencies 
themselves  to  put  the  agency  business  on  a  higher  and 
better  plane. 

There  are  local  organizations  of  agency  men  in  sev- 
eral cities,  as  New  York,  Chicago  and  Pittsburg,  but 
these  organizations  are  new  and  scarcely  appreciative 
of  their  opportunities  for  good. 

Personally  I  have  hoped  that,  as  with  the  list  men  in 
the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  so  with  the 
agency  men,  they  would  form  a  distinct,  organized 
group  within  the  League,  with  officers,  committees  and 
a  definite  object,  and  do  a  little  housecleaning  among 
themselves. 

The  defalcations  of  agencies  as  compared  with  the 
defalcations  of  lawyers  are  as  ten  to  one  in  number  and 
as  one  hundred  to  one  in  the  losses  incurred  by  the 
business  world  by  reason  thereof;  and  these  failures  are 
daily  bringing  into  question  the  character  of  the  entire 
collection  machinery  of  the  country,  both  lay  and  pro- 
fessional, and  doing  much  to  compel  the  credit  world  to 
resort  to  its  own  agencies,  as  evidenced  by  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  Creditmen's  Adjustment  Bureaus,  man- 
aged in  large  part  by  the  credit  men  themselves. 

The  laws  requiring  the  bonding  of  collection  agen- 
cies now  on  the  statute  books  of  some  of  the  States  are 
not  effective.  In  some  States  the  law  is  a  dead  letter; 
in  others  it  is  observed  by  only  a  few  agencies  for  ad- 
vertising purposes. 


AND    HIS    WORK  175 

What  the  C.  L.  L.  A.  in  general  and  the  agency  men 
in  particular  should  do  is  to  formulate  plans  and  execute 
them  lookmg  to  the  eliminating  of  the  crooked  agency 
and  the  mstructing  of  credit  men  as  to  "Who's  who  in 
the  agency  world,"  so  that  the  enormous  sum  total  of 
osses  occasioned  by  incompetence,  neglect  and  defalca- 
tion may  cease. 

The  relation  of  the  lawyer  to  the  reporting  agency 
deserves  attention.  Just  at  what  time  the  work  of  mak- 
ing credit  reports  fell  to  the  lawyer  I  do  not  know,  but 
I  do  know  that  it  is  largely  his  work  at  the  present  time. 
The  making  of  commercial  reports  is  not  legal  work 
But  It  IS  a  service  the  lawyer  is  called  on  to  do  because 
he  IS  supposed  to  be  in  touch  with  local  conditions  and 
to  know  more  intimately  than  others,  save  the  banker 
the  money  worth  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

As  with  every  other  work  the  lawyer  does,  he  is  en- 
titled to  compensation  for  credit  reporting.  Those  ask- 
mg  for  this  service  are  well  able  to  pay  for  it.  There 
IS  no  reason  requiring  the  lawyer  to  do  the  work  as  a 
chanty.  It  draws  on  his  time,  his  knowledge  his  ex- 
perience and  ofttimes  his  pocketbook. 

But,  as  with  the  contingent  fee  system,  this  system 
of  free  reporting  has  become  very  thoroughly  estab- 
lished, so  that  the  average  commercial  lawyer  finds  him- 

wthoTt   "^  '^'   °^   commercial    reports   annually 

without  compensation. 

There  must,  of  course,  be  a  reason  for  the  growth  of 
this  free  service.  The  reason  is  found  in  the  promise 
held  out  that  the  party  asking  the  report  may  some  day 

eve'n't  ,f ,  .r'"i"'  '"  ''"^  '''^y''''  '°^™'  ^"d,  in  that 
event,  that  the  lawyer  making  the  report  will  get  the 
business.  ^ 

It  is  difficult  to  see  where  this  differs  from  buying 
busmess  If  A  says  to  B,  "Give  me  free  service  and  f 
will  employ  you  when  I  have  the  opportunity,"  wherein 


176  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

is  the  difference  when  he  says,  "Give  me  money  and  I 
will  employ  you  when  I  have  the  opportunity?" 

The  situation  is  queer,  because  the  better  the  commer- 
cial reports  the  lawyer  makes  the  less  likely  is  he  to  get 
business.  His  best  play  would  seem  to  be  to  make 
faulty  reports  that  risky  credits  may  be  granted. 

If  the  lawyer  truthfully  reports  that  the  risk  is 
O.  K.,  the  credit  is  granted,  and  the  party,  being  good, 
pays.  If  the  lawyer  truthfully  reports  that  the  risk  is 
not  O.  K.,  the  credit  is  not  granted.  In  neither  case 
does  the  lawyer  profit. 

I  am  not  going  to  say  that  commercial  lawyers 
should  quit  credit  reporting.  On  the  contrary,  I  think 
they  are  the  very  men  best  suited  to  do  it  and  that  in 
doing  it  they  render  an  immeasurably  great  service  to 
the  business  world. 

But  I  do  advocate  that  free  reporting  be  put  an  end 
to.  In  saying  this  I  but  repeat  the  sentiments  of  the 
Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  expressed  years 
ago  in  a  convention  resolution  condemning  "free  report- 
ing." 

But  what  is  "free  reporting?"  It  is  reporting  with- 
out compensation.  Compensation  may  come  in  many 
ways.  It  may  be  a  money  consideration  paid  for  each 
report  or  it  may  be  an  arrangement  between  lawyer  and 
agency,  whereby  the  relationship  of  attorney  and  client 
is  effected  with  the  reporting  service  as  a  fixed  service 
paid  for  by  the  client  in  any  one  of  many  ways. 

The  agency  asking  the  reports  may  be  a  well-estab- 
lished agency  with  large  clientele,  handling  a  large  col- 
lection business  and  supplying  its  clients  with  its  attor- 
ney's list,  that  they  may  send  their  claims  direct  to  the 
agency's  representatives.  The  agency's  undertaking  to 
forward  business  is  more  than  an  illusory  promise.  It 
is  known  to  have  the  business,  not  only  of  the  house 
wanting  the  report,  but  of  hundreds  of  others.  The 
lawyer  making  the  reports  may  be  listed   free  or  at  a 


AND    HIS   WORK  177 

nominal  charge  in  the  agency's  published  list,  which  is 
widely  circulated.  In  the  case  of  much  of  the  business 
received  the  lawyer  is  not  called  on  to  divide  fees. 

In  such  cases  as  these  the  credit  reporting  cannot 
fairly  be  called  "free."  In  most  cases  of  the  sort  de- 
scribed, the  reporting  is  well  paid  for  and  connection 
with  the  agencies,  though  entailing  much  reportorial 
work,  is  eagerly  sought. 

With  the  greater  number  of  requests  for  credit  re- 
ports such  conditions  as  just  described  do  not  exist. 
The  agencies  have  no  business  to  send ;  they  influence 
practically  no  direct  forwarding,  they  distribute  no  list 
and  their  demand  for  a  division  of  fees  is  invariable. 
This  is  free  reporting. 

It  never  pays  to  do  free  reporting  for  business 
houses  direct.  These  houses  use  Law  Lists  in  asking 
for  reports,  and  agencies  for  sending  out  their  business, 
and  it  is  only  by  chance  that  the  agency  in  sending  out 
the  business  uses  the  same  list  as  the  house  did  in  ask- 
ing the  report. 

Both  agencies  and  clients  have  been  known  fre- 
quently to  call  for  credit  reports  on  the  same  individual 
from  several  lawyers,  promising  business,  of  course,  to 
all.  The  practice  is  a  fraud.  Hundreds  of  credit  men 
are  guilty  of  it.  The  remedies  are  local  associations  of 
commercial  lawyers,  with  frequent  comparison  of  ex- 
periences, the  blacklisting  of  the  guilty  parties,  and  the 
reporting  of  them  to  the  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America  for  unfair  forwarding. 

The  lawyer  should  refuse  all  credit  reporting  for 
which  he  receives  no  compensation  aside  from  promises. 
He  should  not  make  the  report  and  send  it  with  a  bill. 
He  should  send  the  bill  first,  and  when  it  is  paid  send 
the  report.  A  universal  adoption  of  this  plan  would 
soon  send  the  reporting  business  to  high-class,  legiti- 
mate reporting  agencies,  which  make  the  reporting 
work  for  the  lawyer  a  fairly  remunerative  part  of  his 
business. 


178  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

The  following  brief  on  the  collection  agency  and  its 
relations  with  the  lawyer,  written  by  Charles  L.  Green- 
hall,  will  be  of  interest : 

The  collection  of  claims  is  a  legitimate  business,  which  may- 
be engaged  in  by  any  person,  and  which  cannot  in  any  sense  be 
said  to  infringe  on  the  practice  of  the  law,  although  attorneys  are 
employed  to  collect  claims.  The  right  of  laymen  to  conduct  such 
business  has  never  been  questioned. 

Am.  &  Eng.  Ency.  of  Law  "Collection  Agencies,"  Vol.  6,  p.  209: 

"A  collection  agency  is  a  concern  whose  business  it  is  to  col- 
lect all  kinds  of  claims  as  well  as  notes,  drafts  and  other  negotia- 
ble instruments  on  behalf  of  others  and  to  render  an  account  of 
the  same. 

"An  agency  of  this  kind  upon  receiving  a  claim  for  collection 
guarantees  that  it  will  use  its  best  endeavors  to  collect  the  same; 
that  where  suit  is  necessary  it  will  select  a  competent  and  reliable 
attorney  for  the  purpose,  and  in  the  event  of  the  negligence,  dis- 
honesty or  unauthorized  acts  of  the  latter  will  save  the  creditor 
harmless." 

The  relation  between  the  owner  of  a  claim  and  the  collection 
agency  is  that  of  principal  and  agent.  Many  questions  have  been 
decided  in  the  courts  of  all  the  states  as  well  as  those  of  the 
United  States  with  respect  to  the  relations  between  the  collection 
agency,  the  creditor  and  the  attorney. 

A  collection  agency  has  the  right  to  send  a  claim  received  by 
it  for  collection  to  an  attorney  in  the  pursuit  of  the  remedy  to 
collect  such  claim.  If  that  is  done  without  specific  authority 
from  the  creditor,  then  the  attorney  employed  is  regarded  as  the 
agent  of  the  collection  agency,  and  not  of  the  creidtor,  but  if  such 
specific  authority  is  given,  or  may  be  inferred  from  the  terms  of 
the  receipt  or  contract,  then  the  attorney  is  regarded  as  the 
agent  of  the  creditor. 

"Principal  and  Agent,"  31  Cyc.  1399: 

"The  employment  of  an  attorney  is  not  one  of  the  ordinary 
incidents  of  agency.  Ordinarily  the  principal  should  be  consulted 
first  and  hence  authority  to  contract  for  such  employment  on 
behalf  of  the  principal  exists  only  in  particular  classes  of  agencies 
or  under  circumstances  making  such  employment  necessary  and 
proper  to  the  performance  of  the  agency.  An  agent  to  collect 
having  authority  to  collect  by  suit  if  necessary,  has  the  resulting 
power  to  employ  an  attorney  to  conduct  such  suit,  and  a  principal 
is  liable  for  payment  for  services  rendered  by  an  attorney  em- 
ployed by  a  general  agent  to  whom  the  principal  has  entrusted 
business  requiring  the  services  of  an  attorney  either  in  law  suits 
or  in  other  matters. 

34  Cyc.  1426. 

"The  general  rule  that  an  agency  to  collect  and  receive  money 
is  one  of  personal  trust  and  confidence,  and  therefore  not  to  be 
delegated  to  another  without  authorization,  does  not  apply  to  a 
general  agency  to  take  charge  of  and  manage  the  business  of  a 
principal.      A   collecting  agency   which    undertakes   to   make   col- 


AND    HIS    WORK  179 

lections  at  all  points  in  the  country  through  local  agents  and 
attorneys  whom  it  employs  and  represents  as  skillful  and  reliable 
is  responsible  for  the  negligence  of  an  attorney  whom  it  employs 
on  terms  wnown  only  to  itself.    *    *    * 

31  Cyc.  1427. 

'Clearly  subagents  may  be  appointed  when  their  appointment 
has  been  expressly  authorized  by  the  principal,  and  in  such  case 
the  agent  assumes  no  liability  for  the  acts  of  the  subagent,  who 
is  directly  accountable  to  the  principal.  The  principal's  consent 
to  look  to  the  subagent  will  be  presumed  when  he  knowingly 
assents  to  the  substitution  of  another  in  place  of  the  agent  he 
appointed. 

Bank  v.  Oilman,  81  Hun  386,  491. 

"In  some  other  jurisdictions  it  has  been  held  to  be  within  the 
implied  authority  of  the  collecting  agent  when  paper  is  to  be  col- 
lected at  some  place  remote  from  that  of  the  business  of  such 
agent,  to  employ  a  sub-agent  in  that  locality  to  make  collection 
on  account  of  the  owner.  But  in  this  state  the  rule  is  otherwise, 
and  in  the  absence  of  any  understanding  or  agreement  to  the  con- 
trary, is  to  the  effect  that  the  collecting  agent  is  deemed  to  em- 
ploy such  other  collector  on  his  own  account.  Thus  the  collecting 
agent  becomes  chargeable  to  his  principal  for  the  conduct  of  the 
bank  or  individual  to  whom  he  transmits  the  paper  for  collection. 

Dun  V.  City  National  Bank,  58  Fed.  174,  180. 

"When  the  business  entrusted  to  an  agent  is  to  be  performed 
at  a  distance  or  requires  or  justifies  the  delegation  of  an  agent's 
authority  to  a  sub-agent  who  is  not  his  own  ser\'ant,  the  original 
agent  is  not  liable  for  the  errors  or  misconduct  of  the  sub-agent 
if  he  has  used  due  care  in  his  selection  (citing  cases)." 

Bradstreet  v.  Everson,  72  Pa.  St.  124. 

J.  M.  Bradstreet  &  Son  gave  a  receipt  to  plaintiff  "Received 
for  collections,"  etc.    The  court  states,  page  133: 

"It  is  argued  notwithstanding  the  express  receipt  'for  collec- 
tion' that  the  defendants  did  not  undertake  for  themselves  to 
collect,  but  only  to  remit  to  a  proper  and  responsible  attorney, 
and  made  themselves  liable  only  for  diligence  in  correspondence 
and  giving  the  necessary  information  to  the  plaintiffs ;  or  in  briefer 
terms  that  the  attorney  in  Memphis  was  not  their  agent  for  the 
collection,  but  that  of  the  plaintiffs'  only.  The  current  of  decision, 
however,  is  otherwise  as  to  attorneys  at  law  sending  claims  to 
correspondents  for  collection,  and  the  reasons  for  applying  the 
same  rule  to  collection  agencies  are  even  stronger.  They  have 
their  selected  agents  in  every  part  of  the  country.  From  the 
nature  of  such  ramified  institutions  we  must  conclude  that  the 
public  impression  will  be  that  the  agency  invited  customers  on  the 
very  ground  of  its  facilities  for  making  distant  collections.  It 
must  be  presumed  from  its  business  connections  at  remote  points 
and  its  knowledge  of  the  agents  chosen,  the  agencv  intends 
to  undertake  the  performance  of  the  sen.'ice,  which  the  individual 
customer  is  unable  to  perform  for  himself.  There  is  good  reason 
therefore  to  hold  that  .such  an  agency  is  liable  for  collections  made 
by  its  own  agents  when  it  undertakes  the  collection  by  the  express 
terms  of  the  receipts.  If  it  does  not  so  intend  it  has  in  its  power 
to  limit  responsibility  by  the  terms  of  the  receipt.    *    *    *  " 


180  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Page  136:  "In  view  of  these  reasons  and  authorities,  we 
hold  that  a  collecting  agency,  such  as  the  defendants  have  been 
found  to  be,  receiving  and  remitting  a  claim  to  their  own  attor- 
ney, who  collects  the  money  and  fails  to  pay  it  over,  is  liable  for 
his  neglect." 

Hoover  v.  Greenbaum,  61  N.  Y.  305. 

Defendant  gave  a  claim  against  a  debtor  in  Nebraska  to  a 
collecting  agency  in  New  York  with  instructions  to  collect  it. 
They  forwarded  it  to  an  attorney  in  Nebraska,  who  obtained  a 
confession  of  judgment,  issued  execution  and  collected  the  money, 
which  it  remitted  to  the  collection  agency  in  New  York,  but  which 
was  not  paid  to  the  defendant.  Within  four  months  the  debtor 
in  Nebraska  was  adjudicated  a  bankrupt,  and  his  trustee  seeks 
to  recover  the  payment  upon  the  ground  that  the  same  consti- 
tuted a  preference  and  fraud  under  the  Bankruptcy  Act  then  in 
force.    The  court  states  on  page  311: 

"There  was  no  relation  of  attorney  and  client  or  principal  and 
agent  between  the  Nebraska  attorneys  and  the  defendants  which, 
by  construction,  can  charge  them  with  the  knowledge  of  the  affairs 
of  Oppenheimer  they  had,  or  of  any  action  of  theirs  had  in  fraud 
of  the  Bankrupt  Law.  Bradstreet  v.  Everson,  72  Penn.  St.  124. 
In  any  view  they  were  not  commissioned  or  authorized  to  com- 
mit any  fraud  whatever  which  can  be  imputed  to  the  defendants. 
No  instructions  were  given  them,  and  no  communications  had 
with  them,  and  the  defendants  did  not  even  know  what  lawyers 
had  charge  of  the  claim  in  Nebraska,  and  the  agents  employed  by 
them  in  New  York  had  no  instructions  to  subject  their  clients  to 
any  of  the  penalties  of  fraud,  but  only  to  do  their  best  to  collect 
the  debt,  and  it  does  not  appear  to  me  that  if,  in  their  zeal,  any 
of  the  provisions  of  the  Bankrupt  Act  has  been  violated,  this 
knowledge  can  be  imputed  to  the  defendants  within  the  meaning 
of  the  act." 

An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

Hoover  v.  Wise,  91  U.  S.  308. 

Page  315:  "We  are  of  the  opinion  that  these  authorities  fix 
the  rule  in  the  class  of  cases  we  are  now  considering;  to-wit:  that 
of  attorneys  employed,  not  by  the  creditor,  but  by  a  collection 
agent  who  undertakes  the  collection  of  the  debt.  They  establish 
that  such  attorney  is  the  agent  of  the  collecting  agen,  and  not  of 
the  creditor  who  employed  that  agent." 

At  another  part  of  the  opinion  the  court  states,  page  313: 

"These  cases  show  that  where  a  bank,  as  a  collection  agency, 
receives  a  note  for  the  purpose  of  collection,  that  its  position  is 
that  of  an  independent  contractor,  and  that  the  instruments  em- 
ployed by  such  bank  in  the  business  contemplated  are  its  agents, 
and  not  the  sub-agents  of  the  owner  of  the  note.  It  is  not  per- 
ceived that  it  can  make  any  difference  that  such  collection  agency 
is  composed  of  individuals  instead  of  being  a  corporation." 

Sanger  v.  Dun,  47  Wis.  615. 

Denfendants  gave  plaintiffs  a  "receipt  to  the  effect  that  the 
account  was  to  be  transmitted  by  mail  for  collection  or  adjust- 
ment, to  an  attorney  at  the  risk  and  on  account  of  the  plaintiffs — 
the  proceeds  to  be  paid  over  or  accounted  for  to  the  plaintiffs  when 


AND    HIS   WORK  181 

received  by  the  defendants  from  the  attorney."     Held  defendant 
liable  for  gross  negligence  only. 

Ryan  v.  Tudor,  31  Kansas  366. 

In  this  case  an  owner  of  notes  and  a  mortgage  placed  them  in 
the  hands  of  an  agent  with  instructions  to  collect  and  remit  the 
proceeds.  The  agent  employed  counsel  and  caused  suit  to  be  com- 
menced, and  it  was  held  that  his  action    was  fully  authorized. 

Page  308:  "Authority  to  collect  imphes  and  includes  author- 
ity to  use  the  means  ordinarily  employed  for  the  purpose  of  ac- 
complishing a  collection,  and  that  among  these  are  the  retaining 
of  counsel  and  the  institution  of  said  suit.  Indeed  that  is  generally 
the  only  way  in  which  collection  can  be  compelled,  and  an  agent 
whose  duty  it  is  to  collect  has  certainly  the  implied  power  to  re- 
sort to  the  ordinary  and  generally  the  only  means  of  compelling 
collection.  Authority  to  collect  is  broader  and  more  comprehen- 
sive than  authority  to  receive  payment." 

Mandel  v.  Mower,  55  How.  Pr.  242. 

Plaintififs  sued  defendants,  a  collecting  agency,  for  $400  amount 
of  note  delivered  by  plaintifif  to  defendant  for  collection,  who  gave 
the  following  receipt,  "Received  of  M.  W.  Mandel  &  Bro.  for  col- 
lection the  follovv'ing  described  claims,  avails  of  which  are  to  be 
promptly  paid  over  on  receipt  by  us." 

■  Defendants  forwarded  the  claim  for  collection  to  an  attorney 
in  Indiana,  who  collected  the  amount  and  failed  to  remit  the  pro- 
ceeds to  defendants. 

The  court  states,  page  243: 

"The  attorney  in  Fort  Wayne  being  the  agent  of  the  defend- 
ants, they  are  liable  to  the  plaintiffs  for  the  proceeds  of  the  note 
when  received  by  the  sub-agent.  The  defendants  would  escape 
liability  by  the  terms  of  the  receipt  in  which  it  is  stated  that  the 
'avails  are  to  be  promptly  paid  over  on  receipt  by  us.'  I  cannot 
think  that  the  defendants'  true  relation  and  liability  are  at  all  af- 
fected by  this  language.  The  money  was  received  by  them  in  law 
when  collected  by  the  sub-agent.  The  receipt  was  intended  as  an 
assurance  of  prompt  pavment  over  and  nothing  more." 

Davis  v.  Matthews,  8  S.  D.  300. 

"A  non-resident  agent  authorized  by  his  principal  and  charged 
with  the  exclusive  management  of  a  real  estate  loan  business  in 
this  state  including  the  examination  of  titles  and  foreclosure  of 
mortgages  has  implied  authority  to  direct  a  local  sub-agent  through 
whom  all  the  business  has  been  transacted,  to  retain  a  lawyer, 
whenever  the  interests  of  his  principal  demand  professional  atten- 
tion." 

Mason  v.  Tavlor,  38  Minn.  32. 

Siner  v.  Stearne,  155  Pa.  St.  62. 

Page  64:  "The  defendants  having  undertaken  the  collection 
of  plaintiffs'  claims,  are  respon.sible  for  the  neglect  of  the  attorney 
employed  by  them  by  which  the  claims  were  lost." 

Harrison  Machine  Works  v.  Coquillard.  26  111.  App.  513. 

Where  the  payee  of  a  promissory  note  has  placed  it  for  collec- 
tion in  the  hands  of  an  agent,  who  has  in  turn  placed  it  in  the 
hands  of  a  third  per.'^nn,  who  ha;?  made  the  collection  and  misapplied 
the  proceeds,  an  action  by  the  payee  for  money  had  and  received 
lies  against  such  third  person. 


182  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Wilson  V.  Smith,  3  Howard  (U.  S.)  763. 

In  this  case  a  bill  was  given  for  collection  to  an  agent  who 
sent  it  for  collection  to  an  attorney  in  another  city,  where  the 
drawer  resided.  He  collected  the  money  and  applied  the  proceeds 
to  an  indebtedness  of  the  forwarder  to  him. 

Page  770:  "We  think  the  rule  very  clearly  established  that 
whenever  by  express  agreement  between  the  parties  a  sub-agent 
is  to  be  employed  by  the  agent  to  receive  money  for  the  princi- 
pal, or  where  an  authority  to  do  so  may  fairly  be  implied  from 
the  usual  course  of  trade,  or  the  nature  of  the  transaction  the  prin- 
cipal may  treat  the  sub-agent  as  his  agent,  and  when  he  has  re- 
ceived the  money  may  recover  it  in  an  action  for  money  had  and 
received." 

Strong  V.  West,  110  Ga.  382. 

Where  one  holding  a  promissory  note  against  another,  with  a 
claim  on  certain  land  as  security  sends  the  note  and  papers  evi- 
dencing his  claim  to  a  collection  agency,  a  power  is  created  in  the 
latter  to  procure  the  services  of  an  attorney  if  necessary  to  collect 
the  note  and  enforce  the  security. 

Dale  V.  Hepburn,  11  Misc.  286. 

This  action  is  brought  by  plaintiff  to  recover  for  services  rend- 
ered defendant  as  attorney  for  her  in  an  action  brought  in  Illinois. 
The  defendant  had  a  draft  which  it  placed  with  a  collection  agency 
in  New  York  City  for  collection.  It  retained  plaintiff  to  take  pro- 
ceedings in  Chicago  to  collect  the  claim  for  them  and  remit  pro- 
ceeds to  them,  after  deducting  his  fees,  the  amount  of  which  was 
specified  in  a  circular  letter  accompanying  the  retainer.  Defend- 
ant's agent,  who  placed  the  claim  with  the  collection  agency,  in 
the  course  of  the  dealings  knew  that  the  plaintiff  was  the  attorney 
of  record  in  the  action  commenced  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 

The  court  at  page  288  says: 

"Under  such  a  state  of  facts  it  is  clear  that  the  plaintiff  was 
acting  on  a  retainer  from  Hubbell  &  Co.  and  not  from  the  defend- 
ant; and  the  question  of  her  liability  depends  upon  whether  or 
not  Hubbell  &  Co.  were  merely  her  agents  in  the  transaction,  or 
were  themselves  principals,  and  we  think  there  can  be  no  doubt 
but  that  they  were  principals.  Under  the  name  of  an  agency  they 
were  conducting  a  collecting  business  on  their  own  account;  they 
would  be  responsible  to  the  defendant  for  the  collection  of  the 
money,  not  as  agent,  but  as  principal.  So  they  are  responsible  to 
the  plaintiff  for  any  services  rendered  by  him  to  them;  they  un- 
dertook to  collect  the  note  and  not  merely  to  employ  agents  for 
the  defendant  to  do  so.    *    *    * 

"In  this  case  the  evidence  is  clear  that  there  was  no  under- 
standing or  agreement  on  the  part  of  the  defendant  about  the  em- 
ployment of  the  plaintiff  for  or  on  her  account  or  as  her  attorney, 
but  in  our  judgment  is  conclusive  that  he  was  employed  by  the 
Hubbell  agency  in  the  course  of  their  business  as  a  collecting 
agency. 

"We  think  that  if  banks  into  whose  care  negotiable  instruments 
are  placed  for  collection  are  regarded  as  principals,  so  much  the 
more  should  a  collecting  agency  whose  sole  business  it  is  to  collect 

Two  points  are  to  be  observed  from  these  citations.  First, 
that  there  is  an  implied  authority  to  the  collection  agenc3^  to  send 
claims  placed  in  its  hands  be  so  regarded." 


AND    HIS    WORK  183 

the  claim  to  an  attorney;  and  second,  that  the  collection  agency 
has  by  direct  authority  the  right  to  send  such  claim  to  the  attor- 
ney. It  has  never  been  doubted  that  both  of  such  rights  exist, 
and  the  language  of  all  decisions  is  that  it  is  a  proper  thing  to  be 
done  in  the  performance  of  the  duty  of  the  collection  agency,  which 
is  to  collect  the  claim.  It  has  never  been  claimed  that  this  is  in 
any  way  fostering  litigation,  or  violating  the  statute  of  common 
law. 

It  is  also  clear  from  the  decisions,  that  it  is  both  the  business 
and  the  duty  of  a  collection  agency  to  place  a  claim  in  the  hands 
of  an  attorney  if  necessary  to  subserve  the  interests  of  the  cred- 
itor who  places  the  claim  with  it  for  collection.  It  necessarily  fol- 
lows that  it  is  just  as  proper  for  an  attorney  to  receive  and  accept 
such  business.  There  is  nothing  in  any  of  the  statutes  of  the  state 
of  New  York,  nor  of  any  other  state,  that  by  any  construction  can 
be  held  to  prevent  this. 

Neither  is  there  anything  in  the  27th  or  28th  Canons  of  Ethics 
which  may  be  said  to  intend  such  prohibition.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  an  attorney  who  may  receive  claims  from  a  collection  agency 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  suit  or  otherwise  is  doing  anything  to 
breed  litigation. 

Canons  27  and  28  of  the  American  Bar  Association  reads  as  fol- 
lows: 

"27.  Advertising,  Direct  or  Indirect.  The  most  worthy  and 
effective  advertisement  possible,  even  for  a  young  lawyer,  and  es- 
pecially with  his  brother  lawyers,  is  the  establishment  of  a  well- 
merited  reputation  for  professional  capacity  and  fidelity  to  trust. 
This  cannot  be  forced,  and  must  be  the  outcome  of  character  and 
conduct.  The  publication  or  circulation  of  ordinary  simple  busi- 
ness cards,  being  a  matter  of  personal  taste  or  local  custom,  some- 
times of  convenience,  is  not  per  se  improper.  But  solicitation  of 
business  by  circulars  or  advertisements,  or  by  personal  communi- 
cations or  interviews,  not  warranted  by  personal  relations,  is  un- 
professional. It  is  equally  unprofessional  to  procure  business  by 
indirection  through  touters  of  any  kind,  whether  allied  real  estate 
firms  or  trust  companies  advertising  to  secure  the  drawing  of  deeds 
or  will  or  offering  retainers  in  exchange  for  executorships  or  trus- 
teeships to  be  influenced  by  the  lawyer.  Indirect  advertisement 
for  business  by  furnishing  or  inspiring  newspaper  comments  con- 
cerning causes  in  which  the  lawyer  has  been  or  is  engaged,  or  con- 
cerning the  manner  of  their  conduct,  the  magnitude  of  the  inter- 
ests involved,  the  importance  of  the  lawyers  positions,  and  all 
other  like  self-laudation,  defy  the  traditions  and  lower  the  tone 
of  our  high  calling  and  are  intolerable. 

"28.  Stirring  Up  Litigation  Directly  or  Through  Agents.  It 
is  unprofessional  for  a  lawyer  to  volunteer  advice  to  bnng  law 
suits,  except  in  rare  cases  where  ties  of  blood,  relationship  or_  trust 
makes  it  his  duty  to  do  so.  Stirring  up  strife  and  litigation  is  not 
only  unprofessional,  but  it  is  indictable  at  common  law.  It  is 
disreputable  to  hunt  up  defects  in  titles  or  other  causes  of  action 
and  to  inform  thereof  in  order  to  be  employed  to  bring  suit,  or 
to  breed  litigation  by  seeking  out  those  with  claims  for  personal 
injuries  or  those  having  any  other  grounds  of  action  in  order  to 
secure  them   as  clients,  or  to  employ  egents  or  runners  for  like 


184  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

purposes,  or  to  pay  or  reward,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  those  who 
bring  or  influence  the  bringing  of  such  cases  to  his  office,  or  to  re- 
munerate pohcemen,  court  or  prison  officials,  physicians,  hospital 
attaches  or  others  who  may  succeed,  under  the  guise  of  giving 
disinterested  friendly  advice,  in  influencing  the  criminal,  the  igno- 
rant or  others,  to  seek  his  professional  services.  A  duty  to  the  pub- 
lic and  to  the  profession  devolves  upon  every  member  of  the  Bar 
having  knowledge  of  such  practices  upon  the  part  of  any  practi- 
tioner, immediately  to  inform  thereof  to  the  end  that  the  offender 
may  be  disbarred." 

The  various  state  statutes  and  the  aforesaid  Canons  of  Eethcis 
are  aimed  at  attorneys  who  employ  people  to  obtain  law  business 
for  them.  With  the  collection  agencies  the  contrary  is  the  case. 
Business  comes  to  the  collection  agency  from  the  creditor,  who 
seeks  to  have  a  just  claim  collected;  and  if  it  becomes  necessary 
to  collect  it  by  means  of  a  law  suit,  or  through  an  attorney  in  any 
other  manner,  the  business  is  not  invoked  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
abling an  attorney  to  make  a  fee,  nor  to  breed  litigation,  but  for 
the  entirely  legitimate  purpose  of  collecting  a  just  demand.  We 
cannot  see  any  distinction  between  a  creditor  placing  his  claim 
with  an  attorney  who  will  have  to  forward  it  to  another  attorney, 
or  placing  with  a  person  not  an  attorney,  to  forward  to  an  attor- 
ney. 

We  may  therefore  conckide  that  the  business  of  a  collection 
agency  of  obtaining  claims  and  thereafter  sending  them  to  attor- 
neys for  suit  is  perfectly  legitimate  and  proper,  and  is  not  in  vio- 
lation of  the  statute  of  any  state,  nor  of  any  Canon  of  Eethics 
nor  inconsistent  in  any  way  with  the  highest  professional  conduct. 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  above  citations  that  an  attorney  re- 
ceiving a  claim  from  a  collection  agency  is  responsible  directly  to 
it  and  not  to  the  creditor,  who  will  be  the  plaintiff  in  the  suit  to 
be  brought,  unless  the  conditions  under  which  the  claim  has  been 
received  and  forwarded  to  the  attorney,  make  the  attorney  di- 
rectly responsible  to  the  creditor. 

Lately  there  has  been  some  discussion  as  to  the  relation  be- 
tween the  attorney  and  client,  and  it  is  said  that  the  relation 
should  be  direct,  and  that  an  attorney  representing  a  party  to  a 
litigation  should  have  direct  dealings  with  him.  Thus  Charles  A. 
Boston,  Esq.,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Commercial  Law  League 
at  Cape  May  in  July,  1913,  says  (referring  to  the  attorney) : 

"Just  as  his  relation  with  the  court  is  personal,  so  his  relation 
with  the  cHent,  which  is  fiduciary,  should  also  be  personal.  The 
fiduciary  obligation  dictates  that  professional  service  should  be 
fairly  compensated  at  not  more  than  its  reasonable  value,  and  that 
it  should  be  arranged  directly  between  lawyer  and  client,  and  not 
by  a  third  person,  owing  no  obligation  to  the  courts,  not  amenable 
to  their  summary  process,  not  subject  to  their  direct  control  for 
the  purpose  of  supervising  the  arrangement,  having  a  wholly  sel- 
fish interest  in  the  situation,  not  necessarily  possessing  a  good 
moral  character,  not  necessarily  learned  in  the  law,  not  necessarily 
cognizant  of  the  essential  principles  of  legal  ethics  and  not  under 
the  obligations  of  an  oath.  The  relation  seems  to  be  incongruous, 
and  unequal;  one  of  the  associates  bound  by  consideration  of  the 
strictest  propriety,  the  other  bound  only  by  his  individual  sense  of 


AND    HIS   WORK  185 

rectitude  or  self-interest;  the  one  under  restraint  imposed  from 
without,  the  other  only  under  such  restraint  as  he  imposes  on  him- 
self. The  difficulty  of  discipline  is  multiplied,  if  one  is  amenable 
and  the  other  not." 

The  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  Matter  of  Co-Operative  Law  Com- 
pany, 198  N.  Y.  479,  states  at  page  483: 

"The  relation  of  attorney  and  chent  is  that  of  master  and  ser- 
vant in  a  hmited  and  dignified  sense,  and  it  involves  the  highest 
trust  and  confidence.  It  cannot  be  delegated  without  consent  and 
it  cannot  exist  between  an  attorney  employed  by  a  corporation  to 
practice  law  for  it,  and  a  client  of  the  corporation,  for  he  would 
be  subject  to  the  directions  of  the  corporation  and  not  to  the  di- 
rections of  the  client.  There  would  be  neither  contract  nor  privity 
between  him  and  the  client,  and  he  would  not  owe  even  the  duty 
of  counsel  to  the  actual  litigant.  The  corporation  would  control 
the  litigation,  the  money  earned  would  belong  to  the  corporation 
and  the  attorney  would  be  responsible  to  the  corporation  only. 
His  master  would  not  be  the  client,  but  the  corporation,  conducted 
it  may  be  wholly  by  laymen,  organied  simply  to  make  money  and 
not  to  aid  in  the  administration  of  justice,  which  is  the  highest 
function  of  an  attorney  and  counselor  at  law.  The  corporation 
might  not  have  a  lawyer  among  its  stockholders,  directors  or  offi- 
cers. Its  members  might  be  without  character,  learning  or  stand- 
ing. There  would  be  no  remedy  by  attachment  or  disbarment  to 
protect  the  public  from  imposition  or  fraud,  no  stimulus  to  good 
conduct  from  the  traditions  of  an  ancient  and  honorable  profes- 
sion, and  no  guide  except  the  sordid  purpose  to  earn  money  for 
stockholders.  The  bar,  which  is  an  institution  of  the  highest  use- 
fulness and  standing,  would  be  degraded  if  even  its  humblest  mem- 
ber became  subject  to  the  orders  of  a  money-making  corporation 
engaged,  not  in  conducting  litigation  for  itself,  but  in  the  business 
of  conducting  litigation  for  others.  The  degradation  of  the  bar  is 
an  injury  to  the  state." 

The  above  criticism  would  not  apply  if  the  business  was  con- 
ducted in  such  a  way  that  the  attornej''  was  made  directly  re- 
sponsible to  the  creditor  and  the  creditor  directly  responsible  to 
the  attorney. 

So  therefore  it  has  been  suggested  that  a  collection  agency 
receiving  a  claim  should  accept  it  upon  the  condition  that  if  the 
same  is  to  be  sent  to  an  attorney  for  suit  or  otherwise,  it  should 
do  so  as  the  agent  of  the  creditor,  that  the  attorney  employed 
should  be  directly  responsible  to  him  and  not  to  the  collection 
agency;  and  in  order  to  give  the  creditor  as  much  protection  as 
possible,  the  collection  agency  should  guarantee  to  the  creditor 
the  proper  performance  of  his  duties  by  the  attorney,  and  the  re- 
mittance of  the  moneys  collected,  to  the  same  extent  that  the  col- 
lection agency  would  be  liable  to  the  creditor  under  the  decisions 
if  he  had  sent  the  claim  to  an  attorney  without  direct  authority  to 
do  so.  In  such  event,  the  collection  agency  would  occupy  the 
same  relation  to  the  creditor  as  if  it  were  a  person  in  his  employ, 
such  as  his  bookkeeper  or  credit-man.  The  term  "personal  as 
used  by  Mr.  Boston  in  the  question  above  does  not  necessarily 
mean  "in  person."  In  law  the  relation  between  two  parties  may 
be  a  personal  relation  even  where  one  acts  through  a  duly  author- 
ized repre.sentative.    If  an  attorney  acts  for  a  client  in  this  way 


186  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

he  acts  wholly  without  the  spirit  and  language  of  the  citation  from 
the  Court  of  Appeals  above  set  forth.  There  being  no  question 
but  that  a  man  may  act  through  his  duly  authorized  agent,  we  can 
see  no  distinction  between  the  agent  being  a  bookkeeper  or  credit- 
man  in  the  receipt  of  a  weekly  salary  from  the  credit,  and  a  collec- 
tion agency  which  is  to  be  paid  an  agreed  compensation  for  the 
services  it  renders. 

The  main  criticism  that  has  been  made  against  collection  agen- 
cies is,  that  the  course  of  business  is  such  that  the  attorney  divides 
his  compensation  with  the  collection  agency.  This,  however,  is 
not  so,  although  the  form  of  forwarding  the  business  would  in  cer- 
tain instances  lead  one  to  suppose  that  it  was. 

It  being  established  that  the  collecting  agency  is  conducting 
a  perfectly  legitimate  business,  and  that  it  may  send  claims  to  at- 
torneys, who  may  receive  claims  from  it  without  in  any  way  vio- 
lating any  statute  of  the  soundest  professional  ethics,  naturally  it 
is  entitled  to  be  paid  for  the  services  it  renders. 

It  is  axiomatic  that  a  person  rendering  services  of  any  kind, 
unless  he  agrees  to  perform  them  gratuitously,  is  entitled  to  be 
paid  therefor. 

It  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  services  rendered  by  the  collec- 
tion agency  are  entirely  separate  and  distinct  from  those  rend- 
ered by  the  attorney.  The  necessity  for  such  services  arise  out 
of  the  same  demands  and  occasions,  after  the  claim  is  sent  to  an 
attorney,  as  existed  for  placing  such  claim  originally  in  the  hands 
of  the  collection  agency. 

It  is  conceivable  that  the  need  for  the  collector  arose  con- 
temporaneously with  the  conducting  of  a  business  on  credit.  A 
person  doing  a  large  business  and  dealing  with  many  people  natu- 
rally employed  some  person  to  call  and  collect  his  claims  when 
they  became  due.  But  where  a  merchant  dealt  with  many  people 
at  a  distance,  he  could  not  afford  to  employ  a  person  to  call  on 
his  debtors.  The  more  extensive  and  wide  reaching  his  business 
and  the  greater  the  territory  it  covered  the  more  impossible  it  was 
for  him  to  attend  to  his  own  collections.  The  extension  of  ehe 
United  States  and  the  fact  that  merchants,  especially  in  New  York, 
sold  goods  to  people  in  all  parts  of  this  vast  country,  made  it  a 
necessity  that  some  proper  method  should  be  employed  by  mer- 
chants for  the  collection  of  their  accounts.  The  man  therefore 
who  started  in  by  collecting  accounts  for  his  own  house  by  per- 
sonal solicitation  found  that  other  means  had  to  be  employed  to 
reach  the  customers  at  distant  points.  Whom  to  employ  he  might 
not  know.  While  he  might  know  people  in  ten  or  a  dozen  or 
perhaps  fifty  different  places  who  were  responsible,  yet  claims 
might  arise  in  many  hundreds  of  different  places.  He  could  not 
make  the  necessary  investigations  at  all  of  these  places,  because 
the  claims  he  would  receive  from  his  own  concern  were  so  few 
that  he  could  not  afford  to  do  so.  But  if  he  should  receive  the 
claims  of  different  concerns,  he  would  be  enabled  to  make  the 
proper  investigation  of  representatives  at  all  cities  and  towns,  and 
by  reason  of  the  large  quantity  of  business  he  could  forward  to 
such  representative,  he  would  get  better  service.  In  order  to 
make  that  pay,  and  it  must  be  concluded  that  no  business  will  be 
conducted  unless  it  does  pay,  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  obtain 
as  many  people  as  possible  to  place  their  accounts  in  his  hands. 


AND    HIS    WORK  187 

To  do  that  he  had  to  solicit  many  merchants  to  place  their  ac- 
counts in  his  hands,  which  it  is  thought  may  not  be  a  proper  thing 
for  an  attorney  to  do. 

Thus  the  need  for  the  collection  agency  became  apparent  as 
the  business  of  the  country  increased,  and  the  development  of  the 
collection  business  has  been  coextensive  with  the  development  of 
the  country.  So  that  today  the  collection  business  is  an  extraor- 
dinarily large  and  important  one,  employing  many  people  in  con- 
nection with  the  obtaining,  forwarding  and  receiving  claims,  with 
the  guaranteeing  of  the  fidelit}^  and  honesty  of  the  agents  and 
attorneys  selected  by  collection  agencies,  and  with  the  printing  of 
publications,  giving  lists  of  selected  attorneys  and  agents.  In  the 
present  classified  telephone  directory  of  the  boroughs  of  Manhattan 
and  Bronx,  under  the  heading  of  "Collection  Agencies,"  will  be 
found  the  names  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen  different  concerns 
apparently  engaged  in  that  business. 

It  may  be  claimed  that  a  business  house  can  attend  to  its  own 
collections  and  perform  as  well  for  itself  in  its  own  establishment 
all  the  services  which  are  performed  by  the  collection  agency. 
The  answer  is,  while  many  schemes  have  been  devised  to  enable 
that  to  be  done,  yet  it  has  proven  to  be  very  unsatisfactory,  for 
the  merchant  cannot  keep  proper  track  of  this  business,  and  can- 
not afford  the  proper  system  for  doing  so.  The  result  is  that  he 
sends  his  claims  to  the  collection  agency  and  is  satisfied  to  pay 
the  10  per  cent  or  other  charge,  in  order  not  to  have  the  bother 
and  anno3'ance  of  keeping  track  of  his  claims  in  his  own  estab- 
lishment, and  of  dealing  with  persons  entirely  unknown  to  him. 
He  prefers  dealing  with  the  people  he  knows  in  his  home  town. 

The  collection  agency  not  only  attempts  to  collect  the  claim 
in  the  first  instance,  but  if  it  is  not  collected,  to  select  for  the  cred- 
itor a  responsible  and  approved  attorney,  whose  honesty  and  fidel- 
ity is  guaranteed,  so  that  in  case  the  claim  is  collected  by  the  at- 
torney the  client  will  be  sure  to  get  his  money.  It  keeps  track  of 
the  conduct  of  the  law  suit  or  other  matter  in  connection  with  the 
claim,  writes  frequently  to  the  attorney  and  as  frequently  to  the 
client,  and  is  continually  insistent  upon  the  attorney  forcing  the 
claim.  It  relieves  the  creditor  of  the  work  of  looking  after  the 
claim,  which  cannot  be  properly  attended  to  by  his  employes. 
For  these  services  the  collection  agency  is  undoubtedly  entitled  to 
be  paid. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  if  the  claim  is  collected  without 
the  assistance  and  service  of  an  attorney  the  collection  agency  is 
entitled  to  charge  such  sum  as  it  may,  by  agreement,  have  fixed 
upon  with  the  creditor.  But  where  a  claim  is  sent  to  an  attorney 
the  question  arises,  how  is  the  collection  agency  to  be  paid?  It 
is  still  necessary  for  it  to  render  services,  and  it  certainly  is  en- 
titled to  be  paid  for  such  services. 

To  our  mind  the  criticism  which  has  been,  made  about  alleged 
division  of  fees  is  purely  the  restilt  of  the  tmfortunate  method 
used  by  some  collection  agencies  with  respect  to  their  compensa- 
tion. It  never  seems  to  have  been  brought  to  anybody's  attention 
that  there  was  anything  illegal,  immoral  or  unethical  in  the  col- 
lection agency  stating  to  the  attorney,  as  we  understand  is  some- 
times done,  that  he  shall  pay  to  the  agency  one-third  of  the  fees 
which  he  receives.     On  the  other  hand,  it  never  was  considered 


188  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

that  an  attorney  gave  part  of  his  fees  to  the  collection  agency  as 
a  gratuity  or  pay  or  consideration  for  having  sent  the  claim  to 
him.  The  amount  the  creditor  is  to  pay  has  to  be  fixed  in  advance 
as  far  as  it  can  be  with  him,  for  as  all  lawyers  know  a  client  will, 
as  a  general  rule,  wish  to  know  what  it  will  cost  him.  So  where 
a  claim  sent  to  a  collection  agency  has  to  be  forwarded  to  an  at- 
torney, the  creditor  would  wish  to  know  what  the  charge  would 
be,  not  only  of  the  attorney,  but  also  of  the  collection  agency. 
The  creditor  is  not  particularly  interested  to  know  how  much  each 
will  get,  but  rather  what  is  to  be  the  total  charge  to  him.  The 
attorney  never  expected  nor  was  it  ever  intended  that  he  should 
receive  all  that  the  creditor  pays  for  his  services.  So  the  custom 
has  grown  that  the  attorney  shall  receive  two-thirds  of  the  entire 
amount  for  his  services,  and  the  collection  agency  one-third  for 
the  services  it  performs. 

If  therefore  the  agreement  under  which  the  claim  is  forwarded 
shall  state  nothing  about  division  of  fees,  but  shall  fix  the  attor- 
ney's charges  at  certain  percentages  of  the  amount  collected,  and 
certain  charges  if  suit  becomes  necessary,  all  of  which  shall  belong 
to  the  attorney,  and  the  agency  shall  charge  the  creditor  in  addi- 
tion a  certain  percentage  or  fixed  charge  for  the  separate  services 
it  performs,  is  there  anything  in  such  a  method  of  doing  business 
which  is  contrary  to  statute  or  offends  any  canon  of  ethics,  or 
which,  so  far  as  the  attorney  is  concerned,  may  be  said  to'  offend 
the  ethics  of  the  profession? 


THE   LAWYER,  THE  AGENCY   AND   THE   LAW 

LIST. 

The  functions  of  the  lavv^yer,  the  agency,  and  the  law 
list  in  the  commercial  law  and  collection  world  are  not 
distinctly  defined  as  they  should  be. 

In  practice  their  functions  seem  to  overlap.  The 
agency  is  inclined  to  invade  the  field  of  the  lawyer. 
The  law  list  is  inclined  to  invade  the  field  of  the  agency. 
The  lawyer  is  inclined  to  invade  the  field  of  the  agency. 

There  can  never  be  an  entirely  satisfactory  condition 
until  the  functions  of  these  three  elements  in  the  com- 
mercial law  and  collection  world  are  accurately  defined, 
and  each  element  is  made  to  occupy  its  own  field. 

The  important  question  in  connection  with  the  rela- 
tionship between  the  lawyer  and  agency  is :  How 
far  can  the  agency  go  in  the  collection  of  commercial 
claims  and  in   litigation   connection   therewith,   without 


AND    HIS    WORK  189 

infringing  upon  the  rights  of  the  lawyer  with  reference 
to  such  business? 

There  are  two  ways  of  looking  at  the  matter.  There 
are  some  who  contend  that  the  agency  is  entitled  to  take 
any  steps  whatever  to  make  collections,  short  of 
actual  court  proceedings.  There  are  others  who  say 
that  the  real  function  of  the  agency  ends  with  the  gath- 
ering up  of  the  business  and  distributing  it  to  the  re- 
ceiving attorneys. 

In  practice,  the  agencies  adopt  almost  universally 
the  former  theory.  There  are  few  agencies  so  liberal 
as  to  content  themselves  with  the  gathering  up  of  busi- 
ness from  clients  and  the  distributing  of  it  to  receiving 
attorneys  without  first  exhausting  every  means  of  col- 
lecting direct. 

It  is  claimed  by  agency  men  that  no  agency  could 
succeed  financially  were  it  to  attempt  to  carry  on  the 
business  merely  between  clients  and  attorneys.  I  do 
not  know  that  this  has  ever  been  fairly  tried.  I  do  not 
know  that  it  ever  will  be  tried,  because  the  temptation 
ever  present  with  the  agency  to  make  its  collections 
direct  where  possible  is  so  great  that  few,  if  any,  could 
long  withstand  it. 

In  their  efiforts  to  make  collections  direct,  agencies 
have  resorted  to  every  conceivable  means  of  keeping 
away  from  the  lawyer.  They  have  not  been  slow  to  use 
the  lawyer  where  they  have  been  compelled  to  do  so, 
either  from  having  exhausted  every  possible  means  of 
collecting  without  him,  or  from  having  run  against  the 
necessity  of  entering  the  courts.  These  means  of  col- 
lecting have  gone  so  far  as  to  make  use  of  the  lawyer 
while  at  the  same  time  refusing  to  remunerate  him,  as 
in  the  case  where  the  agency  makes  draft  on  the  debtor 
and  notifies  the  bank,  as  well  as  the  debtor,  that  in  case 
the  draft  is  not  paid  it  is  to  be  handed  to  the  attorney 
(naming  him).  In  this  case,  the  agency  is  attempting 
to   make  the   collection   through   a  bank  direct   on    the 


190  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

debtor,  using  the  attorney's  name,  reputation,  and  in- 
fluence in  the  community  to  compel  the  debtor  to  pay. 
This  sort  of  proceeding  is  blameworthy  in  the  extreme. 
It  has  been  declared  by  the  Commercial  Law  League 
of  America  to  be  unfair.  It  is  more  than  unfair — it  is 
a  shameless  disregard  of  decency. 

The  use  of  the  attorney's  name  in  this  way  is  not 
confined  to  third-rate  agencies  and  to  third-rate  bus- 
ness  houses;  but  it  has  been  practiced — and  is  prac- 
ticed today — by  some  of  the  best  known  agencies  in  the 
country.  Forms  of  draft  are  being  sold  by  so-called 
reputable  agencies  and  law  list  publishers  to  merchants 
and  manufacturers,  which  forms  provide  for  the  naming 
of  the  attorney  and  the  advising  of  the  debtor  of  the 
attorney's   name. 

The  effect  of  such  a  draft  and  letters  as  use  the  at- 
torney's name  without  authority  is  often  to  bring  about 
the  payment  of  the  claim  at  the  bank,  or  the  payment 
by  a  direct  remittance.  The  effect  upon  the  attorney 
named,  who  is  usually  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  his 
name  is  being  used  as  a  scarecrow  to  get  the  money, 
always  is  to  his  disadvantage.  The  debtor,  receiv- 
ing information  that  the  claim  will  be  placed  with  a 
certain  attorney  in  case  it  is  not  paid,  fails  to  realize 
that  the  attorney  may  not  know  of  the  arrangement. 
He  connects  the  attorney  in  some  way  with  the  demand. 
He  feels — or  is  likely  to  feel — a  resentment  and  he 
carries  in  his  mind  the  idea  that  in  some  way  the  attor- 
ney has  been  employed  against  him.  The  draft  may 
have  gone  to  one  of  the  attorney's  own  clients,  in  which 
case  the  effect  can  be  imagined. 

In  one  case,  a  draft  was  made  on  a  little  child  who 
had  bought  some  article  by  mail  which  it  was  to  sell 
and  remit  for  later.  The  child,  not  knowing  the  nature 
of  the  business  transaction,  failed  to  account  for  the 
goods.  A  draft  was  made  on  the  child  with  the  advice 
that  if  the  draft  was  not  paid  a  certain  attorney  (who 


AND    HIS    WORK  191 

was  named)  would  take  the  matter  into  court  •  and 
somethmg  more  than  a  hint  was  given  that  there  was 
liable  to  be  a  crimmal  action  brought. 

It  happened  that  this  attorney  was  a  neighbor  of  the 
family  to  which   the  child   belonged.     The  letter  was 
of  course,  shown  to  the  parents  and  the  parents  showed 
It   to   others   in   the   neighborhood.     All   who   read   the 
letter  jumped   to  the  conclusion   that  in  some  way  or 
other  the  child  was  being  persecuted  by  their  lawyer 
neighbor,  while  he,  of  course,  was  absolutely  ignorant 
of  the  situation.     Not  for  months  afterward  did  he  learn 
the  cause  of  strange  conduct  toward  him  on  the  part  of 
his  theretofore  friendly  neighbors.     When  he  came  to 
understand  the  situation,  his  wrath  can  be  better  im- 
agined  than   described.      This   is   probably   an    unusual 
and  exceptional  instance  of  where  harm  was  done      In 
no  case,  however,  can  a  draft  be  drawn  on  a  debtor  and 
an  attorney  named  in  it  without  the  debtor  feeling  more 
or  less  resentment  against  the  lawyer. 

That  the  lawyer  should  receive  no  compensation  for 
this  OSS  to  him  of  the  friendly  regard  of  his  neighbors 
and  fellow  citizens  is  unthinkable. 

It  has  become  quite  the  fashion  of  late  for  agencies 
to    send    their    claims    to    banks,    postmasters,   justices 
of  the  peace,  county  officials,  offering  a  small  remuner- 
ation amounting  often  to  not  over  one  or  two  per  cent 
for   the   prompt  collection   of   them.      A    bank    receiv- 
ing   the    draft    in    the    ordinary    form    usually    receives 
from  fifteen  to  fifty  cents  by  way  of  collection  charges 
The  agency  sees  where,  by  the  offer  of  a  dollar  or  two 
dollars,   It  may  obtain  unusual   service  on   the   part  of 
the  bank  and  escape  the  necessity  of  sending  the  busi- 
ness to  attorneys  on  the  usual  attorney  fee  schedule. 

There  are  those  who  contend  that  this  is  not  going 
beyond  the  hmit  of  what  an  agency  may  fairly  do  It 
IS  claimed  that  the  agency  may  do  anything  that  is 
lawful  and  that  does  not  injure  directlv  anothfr,  in  the 


192  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

collection  of  claims,  so  long  as  it  does  not  try  to  enter 
the  courts.  I  do  not  find  myself  able  to  agree  with  this 
position. 

I  believe  that  the  agency  and  the  lawyer  are  in  the 
position  of  partners  in  this  line  of  endeavor  and  that 
each  should  give  to  the  other  a  fair  show.  When  the 
agency  manager  realizes,  as  he  must,  that  the  attorney 
is  helpless  to  solicit  business  and  that  as  a  rule  the 
lawyer  is  true  to  his  codes  of  ethics,  he  will  say  that 
having  the  entire  field  of  soliciting  left  to  himself  with- 
out hindrance  on  the  part  of  the  professional  man  he 
should  be  fair  to  the  latter  in  giving  to  him  a  fair  share 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  business  and  not  attempt  to  use 
classes  of  men  in  the  collection  of  claims  whose  business 
never  was  and  never  can  be  in  that  line. 

I  cannot  see  any  valid  objection  to  the  agency  en- 
deavoring to  make  collections  direct  by  the  direct-de- 
mand letter  and  by  the  bank-draft,  and  by  the  direct 
personal  visit  of  a  collector.  But  I  do  believe  that 
steps  should  be  taken  to  blacklist  all  forwarders  and 
agencies  that  go  beyond  these  few  straightforward 
methods  of  direct  collecting  and  adopt  tricks  and  sub- 
terfuges, contemptible  means,  generally,  of  cheating  the 
lawyer  of  what  is  logically  and  by  custom  long  estab- 
lished, his  own. 

I  believe  there  is  a  fair  and  legitimate  field  for  the 
collection  agency;  I  believe  that  it  does  a  real  service, 
both  to  the  mercantile  world  and  to  the  professional 
world.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  lawyer  may  not 
solicit  this  sort  of  business,  the  agency  acts  to  bring 
out  of  their  hiding  places  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
claims  dead  and  alive  that  otherwise  would  never  see 
the  light  of  day. 

The  draft  system  itself  gets  into  the  hands  of  agen- 
cies and  attorneys  many  thousands  of  claims  annually 
that  never  would  be  placed  in  the  first  instance  by  the 
creditman  or  the  bookkeeper.     Agencies,  by  their  myri- 


AND    HIS    WORK  193 

ads  of  solicitors  constantly  knocking  at  the  doors  of 
merchants  and  manufacturers,  get  into  circulation  a  tre- 
mendous amount  of  business  that  otherwise  would  lie 
dormant.     Attorneys  get  a  share  of  this. 

The  agency  system  also  tends  to  centralize  the  busi- 
ness, so  that  methods  of  handling  it  become  standard- 
ized and  attorneys  are  able  to  deal  with  fewer  forward- 
ers and  upon  terms  and  conditions  fairly  well  settled; 
whereas,  if  every  separate  claim  received  came  from  a 
separate  source,  correspondence  would  be  multiplied 
and  varieties  of  conditions  would  have  to  be  met  be- 
cause the  dealings  would  be  with  many  individuals  with 
varying  methods  and  varying  moods  and  dispositions. 

Notwithstanding  the  advantages  to  lawyer  and  mer- 
chant of  the  agency  system,  it  has  been  of  late  losing 
caste  with  the  profession  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
agency  is,  so  far  as  possible,  ignoring  the  lawyer  and 
seeking  every  way  of  doing  without  his  services.  The 
lawyer  is  also  becoming  disgruntled  with  the  exactions 
on  him  as  to  how  he  shall  conduct  his  business  and  as 
to  the  fees  that  he  shall  charge. 

I  can  see  but  two  remedies  for  this  state  of  affairs. 
One,  to  permit  the  lawyer  to  solicit  business  as  a  com- 
petitor of  the  layman ;  the  other,  to  blacklist  the  unfair 
agency  and  make  it  impossible  for  it  to  get  lawyers' 
services  on  any  terms.  The  former  method  of  defense, 
I  believe  to  be  impossible  in  the  present  state  of  the 
professional  mind,  as  lawyers,  generally,  are  loyal  to 
their  ethical  codes.  The  latter,  I  believe,  to  be  practic- 
able, and  I  expect  to  see  it  adopted.  The  blacklisting 
of  such  agencies  by  professional  men,  to  the  extent 
that  they  will  be  unwilling  to  serve  them,  will  be  of 
some  advantage,  but  the  day  will  come  when  the 
lawyers  will  unite  in  a  campaign  of  education  of  the 
mercantile  and  manufacturing  world  as  to  the  unholy 
methods  of  such  agencies  and  thus  dry  up  their  business 
at  its  source. 


194  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

There  is  a  kind  of  agency  that  the  lawyers  of  the 
country  should  by  all  means  endeavor  to  exterminate, 
that  is  the  agency  which  publishes  directly  or  indirectly 
a  so-called  "law  list"  charging  lawyers  for  representa- 
tion therein,  while  at  the  same  time  soliciting  the  busi- 
ness of  merchants  and  moving  heaven  and  earth  to  keep 
that  business  out  of  the  hands  of  the  lawyers  so  repre- 
senting them.  In  other  words,  on  its  law  list  side  this 
agency  goes  to  the  lawyer  and  says :  "Pay  us  so  much 
per  annum  and  we  will  obtain  for  you  the  business  of 
the  subscribers  to  our  agency."  On  the  agency  side  it 
goes  to  the  merchant  and  says :  "Give  us  your  business 
and,  through  the  direct-demand  draft,  or  direct-demand 
letter  or  through  our  personal  solicitors,  or  through 
forms  and  methods  that  we  will  put  into  the  hands  of 
your  bookkeeper,  we  will  enable  you  to  collect  your 
outstanding  claims  at  a  nominal  figure  and  keep  you 
out  of  the  clutches  of  the  lawyer."  There  are  many 
such  agencies  in  existence.  They  are  playing  a  double 
game,  and  should  be  branded  with  the  sign  of  their 
infamy. 

When  I  was  in  New  York  recently  an  agency  man 
complained  to  me  that  lawyers  throughout  the  country 
came  into  New  York  City  and  sought  to  obtain  business 
direct  from  merchants  there.  His  complaint,  of  course, 
was  that  lawyers  of  the  country  were  invading  his  terri- 
tory and  that  they  had  no  right  to  do  so.  I  called  his 
attention  to  the  fact  that  solicitors  from  New  York 
agency  offices  were  flooding  the  country  towns  and 
cities  of  the  East  and  South,  going  to  the  very  clients 
of  these  lawyers  and  endeavoring  by  every  possible  arti- 
fice to  take  away  their  business.  The  agency  man  in 
question  expressed  surprise ;  but  I  was  fortunate  in  hav- 
ing with  me  at  the  time  an  agency  manager  who  backed 
up  my  statement  by  the  broad  confession  that  he  him- 
self, at  that  very  time,  had  a  dozen  men  in  the  New 
England  States  camping  on  the  trail  of  every  possible 
client  they  could  find. 


AND    HIS    WORK 


195 


Imagine,  if  you  can,  how  galling  it  must  be  to  the 
country  lawyer  to  know  that  by  his  code  of  ethics  he 
cannot  ask  even  his  local  merchants  for  business  and 
yet  an  agency  solicitor  from  a  distant  city  may  come 
under  his  very  nose  and  solicit  away  from  him  his  own 
client.  And  It  IS  thought  to  be  fair!  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  occasionally  a  lawyer  comes  dangerously  near 
breaking  ethical  rules  to  save  his  bacon? 

I  am  almost  inclined  to  say  at  times  that  for  beino- 
unethical  he  is  not  to  blame  inasmuch  as  self-defense  is 
the  first  law  of  nature.  I  think  if  a  solicitor  came  into 
my  town  and  endeavored  to  solicit  the  business  of  my 
client,  I  would  come  pretty  near  cracking  a  few  of  the 
commandments  myself  to  protect  my  own  interests. 

So  general  has  become  this  promiscuous  soliciting 
of  clients  by  agencies  that  an  agency  so  far  to  the  south 
and  west  as  Nashville,  Tenn.,  boasts  to  me  that  it  goes 
to  Cleveland  and  even  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York 
and  solicits  successfully  business  for  its  territory.  Yet 
If  a  C  eveland  or  a  Philadelphia  lawyer  should  go  to 
Nashville  and  attempt  to  obtain  the  business  of  the 
Nashville  clients  of  this  agency,  there  would  go  up  a 
mighty    cry    of    righteous    indignation    that    a    lawyer 

t7lt  w         '^'"'''"   ^'''''^^  ^'  ^°  ^°l'<^it  business- 
and  that,  too,  away  from  home. 

It  is  in  the  face  of  such  conditions  as  these  that  the 
receiving  lawyer  is  asked  to  contribute  one-third  of  his 
fees    to    the    agency    and     do    prompt   and    continuous 


service. 


I  believe  the  agency  should  circumscribe  its  efforts, 
both  .n  soliciting  and  collecting,  to  reasonable  limits; 
that  It  should  have  due  regard  for  the  rights  of  the 
other  member  of  the  partnership,  namely,   the  lawyer 

Ind  "7l  ,'?'  "  ^"""  '  ''''  P^°P°^^i°"  °f  ^he  work! 
and  not  looked  upon  as  a  necessary  evil  to  be  emploved 
only  in  cases  of  actual  necessity,  and  damned  at  other 


196  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

I  believe  that  the  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America  should  maintain  a  "white  list"  of  decent  agen- 
cies ;  that  is,  of  forwarders  who  are  recognized  as  giving 
to  the  lawyers  a  fair  deal.  There  are  some  such,  and 
their  clientage  is  greatly  to  be  desired ;  they  should  be 
honored  and  respected,  and  their  work  should  be  given 
especial  attention  on  the  part  of  receivers.  It  is  not 
all  of  the  agencies  that  suck  the  lemon  dry  before 
throwing  it  to  the  lawyer.  Those  who  do  not  should 
be  marked  conspicuously  for  honor  and  support  on  the 
part  of  the  profession.  Those  who  do  should  be  made 
to  suffer  the  results  of  their  selfishness  and  greed. 

The  function  of  the  law  list  is  a  simple  one,  that  of 
furnishing  an  introduction  of  the  attorney  to  the  client. 
There  is  nothing  more  to  the  publishing  of  a  law  list 
than  this.  A  law  list  is  not  a  collection  agency  nor  a 
reporting  agency;  its  business  is  not  to  gather  up  mer- 
cantile claims  for  its  attorney  representatives ;  it  is  in 
this  sort  of  work  that  it  is  going  beyond  its  legitimate 
function.  The  moment  that  it  does  so,  it  opens  the  door 
to  all  kinds  of  fraud  and  iniquity. 

In  charging  the  lawyer  for  representation,  the  law 
list  cannot  charge  more  than  the  publicity  is  reasonably 
worth  as  measured  by  the  kind  and  character  of  the 
circulation.  This  is  the  true  measure  of  advertising 
value.  When  the  law  list  seeks  to  go  into  the  market 
and  get  business  for  its  representatives  and  bases  its 
charges  on  the  amount  of  such  business  that  it  has  ob- 
tained or  expects  to  obtain,  it  is  simply  inviting  the 
lawyer  to  buy  business.  It  is  saying  to  him :  We  can 
get  for  you  $500  worth  of  business  a  year  therefore  we 
want  $100  from  you.  It  says  to  another  lawyer:  We 
can  get  $200  worth  for  you  and  we  want  $25  for  repre- 
sentation. The  charge  is  based  entirely  on  the  amount 
of  business  the  publisher  expects — and  therefore  prom- 
ises— to  obtain.  The  lawyer  is  buying  business,  and 
there  is  no  more  unethical  practice  under  the  sun. 


AND    HIS    WORK  197 

Once  the  law  lists  start  in  to  get  business  for  their 
representatives  by  means  of  solicitors  and  otherwise, 
they  are  entering  a  competitive  field  where  the  possi- 
bility of  fraud  and  trickery  is  great.  Competition 
among  the  law  lists  in  the  getting  of  business  to  be  for- 
warded over  their  lists  has  in  times  past  become  so 
great  that  some  of  these  lists,  and  some  of  the  best  of 
them,  have  gone  into  the  market  and  actually  purchased 
the  business  of  forwarders  for  a  cash  or  other  consid- 
eration. The  proposition  is  unthinkable,  and  yet  other- 
wise good  men  have  engaged  in  it.  The  logic  of  the 
whole  thing  is  simply  this :  The  publisher  pays  the 
forwarder  for  his  business;  the  publisher  is  not  in  busi- 
ness for  charity  and  he  must  charge  what  he  pays  to 
somebody,  and  that  somebody  is  the  lawyer.  The  law- 
yer is  therefore  paying  the  forwarder  for  his  busi- 
ness ;   it  is  a  transaction  of  bargain  and  sale  of  business. 

This  buying  of  business  has  been  carried  on  under 
many  disguises.  A  publisher  wanting  the  business  of 
a  forwarder  and  not  wanting  to  pay  him  outright  for  it 
will  give  him  a  representation  in  his  list  in  possibly  a 
preferred  position,  because  of  the  amount  of  the  busi- 
ness this  forwarder  can  send  over  the  list.  Again,  some 
forwarder  may  have  suffered  a  loss  on  account  of  the  de- 
falcation of  an  attorney;  the  list  publisher  comes  along 
and  with  a  bigness  of  heart  that  is  marvelous  says :  "I 
will  take  care  of  that  defalcation  myself  if  you  will 
agree  to  send  your  business  over  my  list  for  a  year  or 
more."  The  ways  are  various  and  are  well  known  to 
most  of  us. 

The  meaning  of  it  all  is  simply  that  the  law  list  in 
its  effort  to  "beat  the  other  fellow"  and  to  make  a  show- 
ing with  its  attorney  representatives  and  give  a  reason 
for  large  representation  prices,  must  at  all  hazards  get 
the  business;  no  matter  how,  it  must  be  gotten. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  era  of  business-buying  on 
the  part  of  law  lists  is  passing  away.     It  was  of  com- 


198  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

paratively  short  duration;  it  soon  became  notorious  and 
could  not  by  any  possibility  remain  a  fixed  practice. 
The  moment  it  became  generally  known  to  the  attor- 
neys throughout  the  country,  who  were  beginning  to 
complaint  of  high  prices  for  representation,  an  end  of 
it  had  to  come.  The  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America  took  the  matter  up  promptly  on  learning  of 
the  conditions  with  the  result  that  a  resolution  was 
passed  at  a  recent  convention  condemning  it.  The 
Conference  of  Law  List  Publishers  themselves  took  a 
stand  which  eventually  will  put  an  end  to  the  practice, 
because  we  believe  that  this  conference  (which  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent  controls  the  action  of  the  best 
law  list  publishers)  means  business.  The  smaller  and 
weaker  lists  have  never  engaged  to  any  extent  in  the 
practice ;  first,  because  they  did  not  have  the  money 
with  which  to  do  it  and  second  because  without  a  very 
considerable  growth  of  their  business,  they  could  not 
make  a  showing  with  the  attorneys  that  was  necessary 
to  obtain  the  high  rates  for  representation. 

I  believe  that  law  list  publishers  should  cut  out  so- 
liciting business  entirely.  It  is  not  their  function,  as  I 
have  stated.  Their  whole  purpose,  their  whole  reason 
for  being,  as  I  understand  it,  is  to  furnish  to  the  pros- 
pective client  the  name  of  a  prospective  attorney.  In 
other  words,  simply  make  it  possible  for  the  business 
man  or  lawyer  who  has  a  claim  in  a  distant  town  or 
city  to  obtain  the  name  of  a  reliable  man  to  handle  it. 
In  other  words,  their  whole  raison  d'etre  is  as  an  "intro- 
ducer." When  they  have  accomplished  that  work,  their 
function  is  at  an  end. 

When  the  law  list  publisher  arrives  at  this  conclu- 
sion as  to  his  work,  he  will  be  enabled  to  publish  his 
book  and  circulate  it  at  a  less  cost  than  at  present  with 
his  expensive  branch  offices  and  soliciting  forces,  and 
he  will  be  enabled  to  sell  his  representation  to  lawyers 
at  a  price  that  they  can  afiford  to  pay,  and  at  the  same 
time  enjoy  some  little  profit  from  it. 


AND    PUS    WORK  199 

There  is  nothing  more  evident  in  the  commercial 
law  field  today  than  is  the  dissatisfaction  of  lawyers 
with  the  ruling  prices  for  representation  in  the  leading 
directories.  I  have  hinted  at  a  cause  of  it.  The  cause 
is  going  to  be  removed  and  for  that  reason  I  think  the 
prices  should  be  reduced— and  I  believe  they  will  be 
reduced.  I  am  sure  they  must  be  if  the  law  lists  are 
going  to  retain  the  good-will  of  the  better  class  of  com- 
mercial lawyers. 

I  am  sure  that  hundreds  of  these  commercial  law- 
yers who  are  paying  what  they  consider  to  be  exorbi- 
tant rates  would  drop  their  representation  readily  did 
they  not  feel  that  by  so  doing  others  might  have  the 
opportunity  of  taking  their  places  and  thus  taking  away 
from  them  valued  connections  already  established.  The 
price  they  pay  is  too  high  according  to  their  notion  and 
yet  they  feel  they  cannot  drop  out.  The  two  positions 
are  not  mcompatible.  Many  a  man  stays  in  a  list  be- 
cause he  feels  that  he  has  to;  and  yet  he  has  a  distinct 
feelmg  along  with  this  that  he  is  not  being  justly 
treated  m  the  matter  of  charges.  I  know  this  to  be  a 
fact  because  for  several  years  I  have  been  the  center  of 
a  tremendous  amount  of  complaint  along  this  line. 

One  of  the  things  that  is  most  potent  in  driving  good 
men  out  of  the  commercial  law  practice  is  the  experi- 
ence they  have  had  with  the  law  lists;  and  by  the  "law 
lists"  as  I  speak  of  them  here,  I  refer  not  to  the  better 
class  of  law  lists  but  to  the  general  run  of  them. 

The  law  list,  aside  from  a  possible  fifteen  or  twenty 
of  the  leaders,  is  a  fraud  in  the  publishing  world.  There 
are  nearly  a  hundred  law  lists,  big  and  little.  There 
are  not  more  than  a  score  that  have  a  right  to  exist 
The  business  of  the  others  is  to  get  all  they  can  from 
the  lawyer  and  give  as  little  as  possible.  One  of  them 
seldom  dies  because  it  is  true  that  a  "fool  is  born  every 
mmute."  New  men  are  constantly  coming  into  the 
field,    many    of   them    with    more   money    than    brains 


200  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Martindale's  Law  Directory  is  supposed  to  give  a  com- 
plete list  of  the  lawyers  of  the  country.  It  is  a  com- 
paratively easy  thing  for  the  publishers  of  a  snide  direc- 
tory, by  the  use  of  good  business  English  (and  often 
that  is  not  necessary)  to  circularize  the  young  men  en- 
tering the  field  of  the  law  as  noted  in  this  directory. 
A  very  small  capital  will  start  a  directory  and  a  small 
capital  can  do  a  lot  of  harm  in  that  it  raises  hope  in 
hundreds  of  minds  only  to  disappoint. 

I  recall  that  in  my  first  year  in  the  practice  I  paid 
$50  to  a  certain  directory  that  is  still  in  existence  for 
the  representation  of  the  city  of  St.  Paul.  I  recall  that  I 
expected  very  much  and  very  remunerative  business 
from  that  $50  investment.  The  year  passed  without 
even  a  postage  stamp  in  return.  My  idea  of  the  law 
list  and  law  directory  proposition  after  that  may  be  bet- 
ter imagined  than  described.  I  was  repeatedly  solicited 
from  that  time  on,  but  never  again  fell  a  victim. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  it  is  so  hard  to  kill  these 
worthless  law  lists  is  that  no  matter  how  great  a  failure 
one  man  may  make  of  it,  he  can  always  find  some  other 
fellow  ambitious  to  try  his  hand  at  it  and  ready  to  pay 
for  the  dead  horse. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  through 
its  committee  on  lists  and  agencies  and  through  its  in- 
formation bureau  conducted  by  its  Secretary,  is  sup- 
posed to  give  to  the  lawyers  in  the  League  information 
as  to  the  comparative  value  of  these  lists.  Notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  for  years  the  League  has  been 
giving  this  information,  yet  members  of  the  League  are 
constantly  pouring  money  into  these  rat  holes.  There 
is  always  the  hope  that  springs  eternal  in  the  breast  that 
the  lightning  will  strike  in  the  most  unlikely  places. 
Men  are  so  hungry  for  business  in  commercial  lines 
nowadays  that  they  grab  at  straws.  If  the  members  of 
the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  are  so  slow 
to  take  the  advice  of  their  organization,  what  can  we 


AND    HIS    WORK  201 

say  of  the  large  number  of  members  of  the  profession 
who  are  not  in  the  League  and  who  are  daily  and  hourly 
solicited?  They  fall  prey  to  these  carrions  of  the  pro- 
fession by  the  thousands  and  keep  them  alive,  and  what 
is  more  they  read  themselves  out  of  the  commercial 
law  branch  of  the  profession.  They  drop  out  disgusted 
with  commercial  law;  whereas,  the  real  reason  for  their 
disgust  should  be  with  themselves  in  view  of  their  lack 
of  judgment. 

The  law  list  properly  conducted  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  instruments  of  commerce;  it  is  something  that 
business  men  and  professional  men  alike  find  indispens- 
able. Lawyers  should  support  them,  and  so  should 
busmess  men.  But  a  line  of  distinction  should  be  drawn 
between  those  that  are  well  and  honorably  conducted 
and  those  that  are  not,  and  the  latter  class  should  be 
killed  off  without  mercy. 

Some  day  this  is  going  to  be  done  through  the  action 
of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America.  It  has 
heretofore  treated  the  subject  academically.  Some  day 
It  IS  going  to  treat  it  practically. 

My  idea  of  the  trinity— the  law  list,  the  agency  and 
the  lawyer-is  that  of  a  relationship  of  mutual  confi- 
dence and  co-operation,  without  which  there  will  always 
be  confusion  and  unrest  and  dissatisfaction  With  it 
the  best  in  the  three  will  flourish,  while  the  worst  will 
perish  as  it  deserves. 


202  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

FEES. 

Lawyers  are  charged  with  being  poor  business  men. 
The  charge  is  not  confined  to  lawyers,  however,  but  it 
is  made  of  all  professional  men.  I  am  prepared  to 
admit,  as  being  one  of  the  profession,  that  the  charge 
is  generally  true  of  lawyers  so  far  as  to  the  handling 
of  their  own  affairs.  It  is  not  so  true  where  they  come 
to  handle  the  affairs  of  others. 

Lawyers  are  poor  chargers — notwithstanding  the 
popular  belief  to  the  contrary,  and  they  are  poor  col- 
lectors of  their  own  bills. 

It  is  true  of  successful  men  in  every  line  of  en- 
deavor, if  we  are  to  measure  success  by  something 
other  than  financial  returns,  that  they  are  more  inter- 
ested in  their  work  than  they  are  in  their  compensation. 
Geniuses  usually  die  poor.  Many  a  successful  physician 
of  world-wide  fame  has  come  down  to  old  age  with 
barely  sufficient  to  bury  him.  Many  a  lawyer  whose 
name  is  on  the  records  of  the  highest  courts  and  whose 
reputation  extends  throughout  a  wide  territory  has 
failed  to  achieve  even  a  competency.  The  successful 
commercial  lawyer,  the  man  who  is  known  throughout 
the  country  as  successful  in  the  line  of  practice  known 
as  the  commercial  law  practice,  is  no  exception  to  the 
rule.  Usually  he  is  more  interested  in  seeing  his  busi- 
ness succeed  as  a,  business  than  he  is  in  attaining 
wealth.  The  result  is  often  disastrous;  but  it  is  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  and  probably  cannot  be  avoided. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  average  commercial  law- 
yer's work  is  done  without  compensation.  Occasionally 
a  physician  does  charity  work ;  but  a  lawyer  is  doing 
work  gratis  every  workday  of  the  calendar  year.  There 
is  no  other  line  of  work,  professional  or  otherwise,  that 
adopts  for  its  maxim,  or  as  a  working  principle,  "no 
cure,  no  pay."  Occasionally  a  physician  may  agree  to 
either  cure  or  not  charge ;  but  this  is  the  rule  in  the 
commercial  law  and  collection  business.     There  is  no 


AND    HIS    WORK  203 

other  business,  professional  or  lay,  that  presents  this 
spectacle;  not  even  will  the  preacher  stand  for  it. 

One  does  not  have  to  go  far  to  find  the  reason  for 
this  anomalous  condition  in  the  practice  of  the  law.  A 
part  of  the  commercial  lawyer's  work  is  such  work  as 
is  undertaken  in  large  measure  by  laymen — men  who 
are  not  technically  skilled,  not  educated,  not  prepared 
by  long  study,  not  licensed  to  do  their  work.  They  are 
often  unscrupulous  men  and,  still  more  often,  men  who 
have  been  unsuccessful  in  other  lines  and  who  find  an 
easy  opportunity  of  making  money  by  going  into  the 
business  of  collecting  mercantile  claims. 

The  collection  agency,  whatever  may  be  said  in  its 
favor,  and  there  is  much  to  be  said,  is  the  direct  cause 
of  a  condition  existing  in  the  commercial  law  field  that 
does  not  exist  in  any  other  field  of  professional  work. 
The  lawyer  must  meet  the  competition  of  the  layman 
in  this  field,  and  the  layman  is  bound  by  no  rules  and 
often  by  no  conscience  in  his  methods  and  practices. 
The  lawyer,  to  keep  this  line  of  business,  has  been  com- 
pelled to  meet  lay  competition,  and  hence  the  practice 
of  "no  collection — no  charge." 

The  lawyer  with  the  nerve  to  make  a  charge  for  his 
work  on  commercial  matters,  whether  successful  or  not, 
would  soon  find  himself  out  of  work.  The  contingent 
fee  system  has  got  such  a  hold  on  the  business  that  it 
is  impossible  to  shake  it.  The  lawyer  is  compelled  to 
adopt  it  or  drop  out  of  the  commercial  business  en- 
tirely. 

The  situation  is  in  a  measure  disgraceful.  It  is  con- 
trary to  the  ideals  of  the  profession  and  contrary  to  its 
ethics.  One  of  the  basic  rules  of  professional  ethics 
for  all  time  has  been  that  the  lawyer  should  not  specu- 
late in  his  clients'  interests,  or  in  law  suits,  or  in  con- 
tests of  any  sort.  To  take  business  on  a  contingent 
basis  is  practically  to  gamble  on  the  client's  case.  This 
has  been  lost  sight  of  entirely  and  now  the  professional 


204  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

world  accepts  the  contingent  fee  system  with  apparent 
complacence.  We  find  not  only  that  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  commercial  lawyers  are  willing  to  accept 
business  on  this  basis,  but  are  ready  to  risk  their  pro- 
fessional reputation  by  soliciting  business  on  that  basis. 

The  enormity  of  the  crime  of  the  contingent  fee  is 
increased  when  we  realize  that  lawyers  are  paying 
mony  to  various  institutions  that  hold  forth  a  promise 
to  direct  this  contingent  business  their  way  and  are 
making  commercial  reports  practically  without  com- 
pensation for  the  privilege  (if  it  may  be  so  called)  of 
some  day  receiving  on  this  same  contingent  basis  some- 
body's business  favors. 

The  whole  system  has  dragged  the  lawyer  down  to 
the  position  of  a  mendicant.  Some  day  he  is  going  to 
wake  up  to  a  realization  that  the  layman  in  the  com- 
mercial law  and  collection  business  is  his  pacemaker, 
and  is  making  his  rules  and  regulations  and  fees  to  suit 
himself,  and  that  he  himself  has  nothing  to  do  what- 
ever with  the  fixing  of  his  status. 

The  system  of  "no  collection — no  charge"  which  lies 
at  the  base  of  the  collection  business  is  insidiously 
working  its  way  into  other  departments  of  the  lawyers' 
work.  There  is  even  a  confusion  of  ideas  among  some 
clients  as  to  whether  or  not  the  contingent  fee  applies 
also  to  suits  on  mercantile  matters.  We  find  for- 
warding blanks  accompanying  claims  often  providing 
that  whether  or  not  the  suit  is  won,  the  fee  is  to  be 
contingent.  We  find  lawyers  so  hungry  for  business, 
or  so  careless  as  to  the  terms  on  which  they  take  it, 
that  they  are  accepting  litigation  on  such  terms. 

Even  commercial  lawyers  in  the  city  of  Chicago  are 
accepting  claims  for  suit  on  practically  a  contingent 
basis,  inasmuch  as  the  small  charge,  made  by  way 
of  "advanced  costs"  and  which  admittedly  is  made 
with  a  view  to  retaining  a  paltry  dollar  or  two  in  case 


AND    HIS    WORK  205 

of  failure  to  make  the  money  on  the  judgment,  is  all 
that  the  attorney  expects  for  his  work. 

The  mercantile  client,  educated  by  the  laymen  to 
so  think,  is  gradually  coming  to  feel  that  any  and  all 
work  placed  by  him  with  the  lawyer  should  be  accepted 
by  the  latter  on  the  contingent  basis,  so  that  a  straight 
fee,  which  used  to  be  the  rule  in  the  law  office,  is  coming 
to  be  the  exception. 

I  insist  that  if  the  contingent  fee  system  is  to  con- 
tinue, it  be  confined  strictly  to  mercantile  claims  col- 
lected without  suit.  No  lawyer  should  ever  permit  him- 
self to  go  into  court  with  the  understanding  that  he  is 
to  receive  nothing  for  his  work  unless  he  succeeds. 
There  are  exceptional  cases  which  will  be  readily  recog- 
nized but  even  these  cases  should  not  be  accepted  ex- 
cept with  the  knowledge  and  approval  of  the  court.  The 
lawyer  should  hold  his  professional  service  in  court  as 
something  beyond  the  reach  of  lay  influence.  The  layman 
has  spoiled  the  lawyer's  collection  field  by  his  intro- 
duction of  the  contingent  fee,  but  let  it  be  understood 
that  his  hands  cannot  touch  the  lawyer's  special  work 
for  which  he  has  been  especially  licensed  by  the  State. 

Where  two  classes  of  workmen  compete,  the  tend- 
ency is  to  finally  fix  the  charges  at  the  rates  adopted 
by  the  poorer  workmen.  So,  when  the  skilled  attorney, 
prepared  as  I  have  said  by  study  and  practice  and  with 
a  reputation  in  his  community  and  with  the  prestige 
of  being  an  officer  of  the  court,  comes  into  competition 
with  the  unskilled  and  often  unscrupulous  layman,  the 
tendency  is  to  fix  the  fees  not  at  what  the  lawyer 
should  charge  or  what  would  be  reasonable  compensa- 
tion to  him  but  what  the  layman  charges. 

The  layman  in  the  commercial  law  and  collection 
field  has  always  been  a  rate-cutter.  It  is  he  that  has 
borne  down  on  collection  rates  until  they  have  reached 
such  a  point  that  by  the  admission  of  everyone,  layman 
as  well  as  lawyer,  they  have  become  impossible. 


206  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Not  only  is  the  tendency  to  arrive  finally  at  rates  that 
are  satisfactory  only  to  the  shyster,  but  the  lawyer  is 
helpless  to  stem  this  tendency  for  the  following  reasons : 

The  lawyer  is  forbidden  by  his  code  of  ethics  to  so- 
licit business.  He  cannot  go  to  the  prospective  client 
and  offer  to  do  business.  He  must  await  the  client's 
action.  The  layman,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  bound 
by  any  restrictions  and  can  go  to  the  client  freely  with 
the  offer  of  his  service  and  with  any  proposition  as  to 
fees  that  may  suit  his  purpose.  The  client,  solicited  as 
he  is  by  the  many  laymen  in  this  field,  naturally  favors 
the  agency  or  the  layman  that  solicits  on  the  most  fa- 
vorable terms.  The  result  is  underbidding  and  a  conse- 
quent dropping  of  fee  rates  to  meet  competition. 

The  lawyer,  as  I  have  said,  is  helpless  in  this  regard. 
The  layman  gets  the  business  and,  naturally,  and  in- 
evitably, he  must  send  this  business  out  to  the  lawyer 
(presuming  that  he  employs  a  lawyer  at  all  in  the  doing 
of  it),  at  the  same  rate  on  which  he  takes  it  or  (as  is 
often  the  case)  on  a  still  lower  rate.  The  result  is  that 
the  layman  in  the  field  of  commercial  law  and  collec- 
tions fixes  the  rates.  It  is  not  the  client,  it  is  not  the 
lawyer,  who  determines  the  pay,  but  the  middleman.  It 
is  he,  and  he  only,  who  is  responsible  for  the  low  rates 
that  have  characterized  the  collection  business  in  the 
last  twenty-five  years.  Furthermore,  it  is  the  layman 
who  is  responsible  for  the  greater  and  greater  tendency 
on  the  part  of  the  client-world  to  expect  work  from 
the  lawyer  for  no  compensation  whatever,  or  for  com- 
pensation contingent  on  results. 

Another  result  of  lay  competition  for  the  business 
is  the  growth  of  a  species  of  fraud  which  consists  in 
the  laymen  taking  the  business  from  the  clients  at  the 
best  fees  that  he  can  get  and  farming  it  out  to  lawyers 
throughout  the  country  on  a  lower  scale.  This  is  com- 
ing to  be  a  prodigious  evil,  and  it  is  practiced  generally. 
Lawyers  do  not  know  it.   When  they  come  to  know  it  (as 


AND    HIS    WORK  207 

they  will)  there  will  be  some  things  doing  in  the  com- 
mercial  law  world. 

It  is  almost  a  universal  custom  nowadays  for  the 
agency,  where  it  has  obtained  unusually  good  terms 
from  the  client,  to  turn  about  and  offer  the  business  to 
lawyers  on  a  much  smaller  scale  of  fees  and  pocket  the 
difference;  and  not  only  pocket  the  difference,  but  also 
pocket  the  usual  one-third  commission  that  the  forward- 
ing agency  obtains  from  the  lawyer  out  of  his  fee. 

It  is  for  some  such  reason  as  this  that  attorneys  are 
getting  business  from  agencies  on  the  meager  scale  of 
10  per  cent  on  the  first  $100  or  $200,  with  a  minimum 
fee  of  $2  or  $3,  and  a  division  of  these  fees.  Nobody 
in  his  senses  believes  that  these  agencies  obtain  the 
business  from  their  clients  on  any  such  scale  of  fees. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a 
hundred,  the  agency  is  getting  the  business  on  10  per 
cent  straight  for  any  amount,  or  15,  25  or  even  50 
per  cent,  and  then  going  to  the  attorney  with  an  offer 
of  meager  compensation  and  a  rebate  in  addition,  in 
the  hope  that  the  claim  may  be  collected  and  the  agency 
may  be  able  to  pocket  the  difference. 

The  ease  with  which  lawyers  can  obtain  better  com- 
pensation on  claims  sent  them  by  forwarders  shows 
that  the  forwarder  is  in  position  to  give  the  better  fees 
when  they  are  demanded.  If  you  get  a  claim  on  the 
basis  of  10  per  cent  on  $100  you  can  be  pretty  sure  that 
the  forwarder  is  getting  more  money  than  he  is  offering 
you;  and  that  a  demand  on  your  part  for  a  better  fee 
will  not  have  to  be  referred  to  the  client  by  the  for- 
warder but  can  be  complied  with  (and  usually  will  be 
complied  with)  by  the  forwarder  himself  at  once.  The 
mental  reservation  made  by  the  forwarder  when  he 
sends  out  the  business  to  you  on  the  low'  scale  is  that 
if  you  are  fool  enough  to  take  the  business  on  the  scale 
given  in  the  forwarding  blank,  well  and  good ;  but  that 


208  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

if    you    come    back    for    better    compensation,   he  will 
give  it. 

Collection  agencies  have  succeeded  in  pulling  down 
the  fee  rates  to  such  a  point  that  they  have  ruined  their 
own  business,  and  with  the  result  that  they  must  resort  to 
all  sorts  and  varieties  of  tricks  in  order  to  make  their 
business  self-sustaining.  One  of  these  tricks  is  what 
I  have  just  pointed  out — the  obtaining  of  the  business 
from  the  client  on  one  scale  of  fees  and  the  sending  it 
out  to  attorneys  on  another.  I  consider  this  one  of  the 
most  serious  problems  of  the  commercial  business  at 
this  time,  and  one  that  the  Commercial  Law  League 
of  America  will  be  called  upon  to  handle. 

An  agency  that  does  this  sort  of  work  should  be 
blacklisted.  To  blacklist  agencies  and  law  firms  that 
are  doing  this  today,  however,  would  be  to  blacklist  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  forwarding  world.  But 
this  question  is  going  to  be  handled  when  the  commer- 
cial world  "gets  its  nerve."  The  Commercial  La:w 
League  of  America  has  been  slow  in  tackling  some  of 
the  troublesome  problems  in  the  commercial  law  and 
collection  business,  but  it  is  gradually  getting  the  cour- 
age of  its  convictions  and  I  am  satisfied  that  ere  long 
this  unfair  practice  will  be   dealt  with. 

One  of  the  reasons  why  fee  rates  have  been  lowered 
to  the  point  of  starvation,  within  the  past  ten  or  fifteen 
years,  has  been  a  lack  of  backbone^ — if  I  may  so  term 
it — on  the  part  of  the  legal  profession.  Lawyers  want 
commercial  business.  Where  that  business  can  be  ob- 
tained first  hand,  it  is  an  easy  and  remunerative  busi- 
ness. But  of  late  years  the  business  has  been  monopo- 
lized, very  largely,  by  middlemen  who  are  largely  of 
the  layman  class.  Lawyers  have  seen  the  business  get- 
ting away  from  them  and  have  come  to  look  for  it  at 
the  hands  of  these  middlemen.  The  fear  they  have  of 
losing  it  has  made  them  cowardly,  and  they  have  been 
taking  the  business  from  these  middlemen  at  terms 
which  left  them  no  self-respect. 


AND    HIS   WORK  209 

Some  forwarding  blanks  used  by  forwarding  agen- 
cies  in   sending  business   to   attorneys   contain   restric- 
tions that  no  thinking  man  would  permit  himself  even 
to  read,  let  alone  abide  by.     Yet  many  good  firms  close 
their   eyes    to    these   indignities    and    accept    the    busi- 
ness.    To  such  an  extent  has  the  abuse  grown  that  the 
receiving   attorneys    throughout    the    country    have    be- 
come callous   to  many  things   which,   if   they   had   ever 
for  a   moment  stopped   to   consider,  would   never  have 
been  permitted. 

That   this    species   of   cowardice,    or   indifference    to 
proprieties,  exists,  is  evidenced  to  me  every  day  in  my 
work  in  connection  with  the  rate  reform  movement  in- 
augurated by  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America 
which  movement  has  been  largely  in  my  charge.     Every' 
day  I  am  receiving  letters  from  attorneys  stating  that 
.vhde  they  recognize  the  justice  of  the  cause  and  recog- 
nize that  fee  rates  are  not  satisfactory  and  that  condl 
f  om  Tw         '^  '''^  '''  ^^^^^^^"^  ^°"-  ^°°d  business 
ose  and  therefore  they  must  decline  to  assist  in  better- 
ing those  conditions.     Such  confessions  are  pitiful-  thev 
practically  admit  that  the  legal  profession  i's  no  longer 
mdependent.     It  is  simply  saying,  "We  are  entitled^o 
better  treatment,  but  we  don't  dare  require  it  for  fear 
we  may  lose  business.''     Is  there  any  Ler  professTon 
or  trade,   from   the   hod-carrier  up,   that  would   permit 

to  M^as  "  r^"'-     "^^^^^^"^^  "°  profession  in  Th 

world  has  ever  shown  so  little  regard  for  its  own  dig- 

the   com  Ti  "^^''  ''  ^'^  *'^  ''^'^  profession,  or 

th     ZZl  r^"  ''^"^'   °'  '''  ^"  '''  P--i«ing 

the   middleman   class  to   impose   conditions  and   terms 

JToM  u"  Hstal  '''-''-'-'-'  ^^--  -  --^  -^' 

The  conditions  were  becoming  so  bad  years  ajro  tliat 
some  brave  fellow  proposed  at  a  convention  ^f  the 
Commercial  Law  League  of  America  that  the  organt 


210  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

zation  take  steps  to  increase  the  rate  of  fees  on  com- 
mercial matters,  and  the  rate  of  increase  proposed  was 
so  small  as  now  to  appear  ludicrous.  As  showing  the 
indifference  and  the  servile  spirit  of  the  commercial  law- 
yers of  even  that  day,  the  proposal  met  with  fear — or 
at  least  with  surprise — on  the  part  of  the  convention, 
and  no  action  was  taken  except  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  consider  the  matter;  and  this,  it  was  thought,  would 
put  the  proposal  to  sleep.  The  fear  secretly  was  that 
the  agencies  would  retaliate  and  that  the  lawyers  would 
lose  business. 

At  the  convention  the  following  year  this  committee 
made  a  report  favoring  the  increase  and  the  convention 
failed  to  adopt  the  report;  but  it  continued  the  com- 
mittee. There  was  no  claim  made  on  the  convention 
floor  that  the  fee  rates  were  high  enough,  but  there  was 
simply  a  tacit  agreement  among  those  present  that  it 
was  a  "delicate  question  and  ought  not  to  be  considered." 

A  later  convention,  with  more  than  the  average 
amount  of  nerve,  finally  adopted  a  resolution  recom- 
mending— mind  you  recommending  only — a  scale  of 
fees  based  on  10%  on  the  first  $300  with  a  minimum  fee 
of  $3.  The  fees  offered  by  clients  and  forwarders 
prior  to  this  time  were  being  scaled  down  to  10%  on 
the  first  $200  or  10%  on  the  first  $100,  with  a  minimum 
fee  of  $2  and  even  as  low  as  $1.50.  The  convention  al- 
most "turned  a  fit,"  in  increasing  the  rates  to  10%  on 
the  first  $300  with  a  minimum  fee  of  $3.  Subsequent  to 
this  convention,  no  effort  of  any  consequence  was  made 
for  some  years  to  bring  the  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America  members  and  the  commercial  law  world  gen- 
erally into  harmony  with  this  new  rate.  There  was  a 
spasmodic  effort  made  from  time  to  time  and  here  and 
there  an  agency  or  a  law  firm  adopted  the  recommended 
rates;  but  the  same  old  rates  continued  and  in  fact  the 
tendency  was  toward  a  still  further  drop.  It  was  not 
until  1913  that  a  real  effort  was  made  to  wake  up  the 


AND    HIS    WORK  211 

commercial  world  to  the  necessity  of  stemming  the  tide 
of  low  fees. 

In  1913  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  got 
busy  and  within  a  comparatively  short  time  brought 
about  the  adoption  of  the  new  rates  by  practically  all 
of  the  law  lists,  and  many  of  the  largest  agencies  and 
law  firms.  Some  Bar  Associations  lent  their  support, 
including  several  state  associations.  The  results  of  the 
campaigns,  of  1913,  '14,  '15  and  '16  were  manifesting 
themselves  and  lawyers  were  beginning  to  see  that  it 
was  possible  for  them  to  have  some  say  in  fixing  their 
own  fees.  The  outcome  was  that  at  its  convention  at 
Saratoga  Springs  in  1917  the  League  further  increased 
fee  rates  by  adopting  a  scale  based  on  15%  on  the  first 
$300  with  a  minimum  fee  of  $5.  This  jump  would  have 
been  absolutely  unthinkable  five  years  before.  The  con- 
vention at  Saratoga  Springs  went  at  the  matter  "hot 
footed"  and  treated  it  as  strong  men  treat  a  matter  of 
vital  concern,  adopting  the  recommended  rates  with 
scarcely  a  dissenting  voice.  When  that  convention  ad- 
journed it  was  freely  predicted  that  the  rates  could 
never  be  enforced,  as  the  increase  was  an  increase  of 
50%  over  the  rates  that  had  only  recently  become  es- 
established.  However,  the  Secretary's  office  of  the 
League,  under  the  general  direction  of  a  committee  of 
which  James  C.  Fifield  of  Minneapolis  was  Chairman, 
a  man  who  had  pioneered  in  the  matter  of  increased 
rates,  went  to  work  in  earnest,  determined  to  put  the 
League  to  the  proof.  The  result  was  that  before 
April  1st  of  the  following  year,  or  within  six  months 
of  the  time  the  new  rates  were  recommended  to  go 
into  effect,  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  bar  associations, 
including  two  state  bar  associations,  had  adopted  the 
rates  without  an  iota  of  change  and  over  ninteen  hun- 
dred cities  and  towns  in  the  United  States  has  sent 
in  agreements  signed  by  practically  their  entire  Bars, 
by  which  agreements  the  lawyers  of  these  cities  and 
towns  refused  to  do  business  on  rates  less  than  those 


212  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

recommended  by  the  League.  Further,  within  ninety 
days  of  the  time  when  the  rates  were  recommended 
to  go  into  effect,  every  prominent  law  list  in  the 
country  and  most  of  those  not  prominent  had  adopted 
the  rates  as  their  own,  which  in  itself  practically  made 
the  movement  a  success. 

The  promptness  with  which  the  work  of  rate  re- 
form has  been  brought  to  a  success  within  the  last  few 
months  shows  that  a  new  spirit  is  abroad  among  the 
lawyers  of  the  country,  a  spirit  of  self-preservation  and 
of  self-defense,  which  was  entirely  lacking  throughout 
the  country  a  few  years  ago  when  rate  reform  was 
gingerly  talked  about  by  a  few  people  under  their  breath 
at  a  League  convention,  and  when  every  one  was 
afraid  to  discuss  it  openly  for  fear  he  might  "get  in  bad" 
with  the  forwarders. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  is  respon- 
sible for  this  awakening  of  the  lawyer's  feeling  of  self- 
respect.  This  organization  alone  has  brought  about  the 
result  of  fifty  per  cent  better  compensation  to  the  lawyer 
on  commercial  matters. 

The  contingent  fee,  so  far  as  possible,  should  be 
banished  from  the  law  office.  It  may  be  that  the  con- 
tingent fee  is  a  fixture  on  commercial  claims  sent  for 
collection  without  suit;  but  aside  from  this  class  of 
business  there  should  be  no  such  thing  as  a  contingent 
fee  in  the  law  office.  It  should  be  part  of  the  "religion" 
of  every  member  of  the  staff  in  the  law  office,  from  the 
ofifice  boy  to  the  head  of  the  firm,  that  every  piece  of 
work  should  have  its  appropriate  charge.  This  should 
be  the  rule  whether  the  charge  is  actually  billed  and 
collected  or  not.  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire" 
should  be  the  motto  over  the  door  of  the  law  office. 
Where  there  are  several  members  of  a  firm  and  several 
clerks,  there  is  a  great  opportunity  for  items  of  charge 
to  escape.  Some  system  should  be  devised  by  which 
the  time  devoted  to  the  work  by  every  one  connected 


AND    HIS    WORK  213 

with  the  office  should  be  accounted  for  and,  as  all  work 
in  the  office  is  presumed  to  be  for  clients,  every  particle 
of  time  devoted  to  service  should  be  represented  by  a 
charge  to   some   one. 

I  was  forcibly  impressed  by  something  that  I  saw 
in  the  office  of  Dill,  Chandler  &  Seymour — one  of  the 
great  law  firms  of  New  York — some  years  ago,  and  I 
have  never  forgotten  the  lesson  I  received  from  it. 
I  was  present,  as  a  young  lawyer,  in  their  office  re- 
presenting certain  clients  in  Michigan  who  were  inter- 
ested in  a  hearing  before  a  referee.  The  hearing  took 
place  in  the  office  of  Dill,  Chandler  &  Seymour.  One  of 
the  questions  at  issue  was  the  charges  made  in  a  large 
bill  presented  by  a  firm  of  attorneys.  No  one  present 
seemed  to  be  particularly  interested  in  investigating  this 
bill.  As  my  clients  were  going  to  be  compelled  to  help 
pay  the  bill,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  make  some  in- 
quiries regarding  it.  I  discovered  that  the  bill  was  not 
itemized  and,  as  it  amounted  to  several  thousands  of 
dollars,  I  considered  that  an  itemized  statement  was  due. 
The  hearing  was  adjourned  to  the  following  day  in 
order  that  the  itemized  statement  might  be  brought  in. 
When  it  finally  appeared  some  of  the  charges  read  like 
this: 

"July  10,  To  consultation  of  1  hr.  with  Mr.  Dill,  $50.00 
July  15.  To  consultation  of  ^  day  in  office  of 

Dill,  Chandler  &  Seymour 100.00" 

and  so  on.  There  were  many  such  items  representing 
hours  spent  in  the  office  of  Dill,  Chandler  &  Seymour 
on   consultations. 

On  the  day  before,  I  had  been  shown  through  the 
office  of  this  firm  and  I  was  interested  to  learn  that 
every  morning  there  was  placed  on  the  desk  of  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  office  a  sheet  of  paper 
ruled  for  the  hours  of  the  day  and  with  a  ?pace  at  the 
top  in  which  was  written  the  name  of  the  party  occupy- 
ing the  desk,  and  the  date.     Each  person  in  the  office 


214  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

from  Mr.  Dill  down  to  the  office  boy  was  required  to 
make  a  notation  on  this  sheet  of  what  he  did  with  his 
time  during  the  day  and,  where  certain  things  were  ac- 
complished, as  for  instance,  interviews,  attendances  at 
court,  briefing,  consultations,  a  memo  of  the  time 
(sometimes  of  the  charge)  was  placed  in  the  blank.  At 
the  close  of  the  day,  these  sheets  were  collected  and 
filed  for  the  use  of  the  bookkeeper. 

Remembering  this,  I  called  for  the  sheets  for  the 
days  on  which  it  appeared,  from  the  itemized  bill  in 
question,  the  consultations  were  held.  To  my  surprise, 
as  well  as  to  the  chagrin  of  all  concerned,  the  claimed 
consultations  dwindled  down  to  brief  visits  and  in  many 
cases  to  figments  of  the  imagination.  The  result  of  my 
discovery  in  this  respect  led  to  an  investigation  of  the 
bill  in  other  respects  and  the  final  cutting  of  it  down 
one-half.  =    'flflll 

Some  such  method  as  this  is  absolutely  necessary  in 
every  office,  where  there  are  several  on  the  office  staiif. 
Indeed,  the  necessity  for  it  exists,  though  there  be  but 
one  person  in  the  office.  Where  a  matter  drags  along 
for  years  the  client  fails  to  realize  (and  sometimes  the 
lawyer  himself  fails  to  realize)  how  much  time  and 
effort  has  been  put  on  the  case.  The  lawyer  himself, 
when  he  comes  to  make  up  his  bill,  has  only  a  general 
idea  that  the  matter  has  hung  fire  for  several  years ;  but 
he  has  no  conception  of  how  much  of  his  time  he  has 
spent  in  the  matter,  with  the  result  that  often  his 
charges  are  inadequate,  or,  what  happens  still  more 
often,  the  clients  object  to  his  charges  and  the  attorney 
is  unable  to  prove  really  how  much  of  his  time  has  gone 
into  it.  If  a  showing  could  be  made  of  the  exact  amount 
of  work  spent  on  the  particular  piece  of  business,  there 
would  be  a  likelihood  of  an  adequate  charge  being  made 
and  there  would  be  data  whereby  a  reasonable  client 
could  be  made  to  understand  the  justness  of  the  bill  he 
is  asked  to  pay. 


AND    HIS   WORK  215 

Then,  too,  where  there  is  a  number  of  persons  in 
the  office  a  client  may  consult  with  one  today  and  an- 
other next  week,  and  still  another  the  following  week. 
When  there  comes  the  necessity  of  making  up  a  charge, 
no  one  of  the  members  of  the  firm  is  in  position  to  state 
how  much  work  has  been  done  on  the  case.  There 
should  be  a  memorandum  made  by  every  member  of  the 
office  staff  of  every  item  of  business  transacted  during 
the  day  and  a  system  of  filing  should  be  devised  that 
would  enable  the  bookkeeper  or  any  member  of  the  firm 
at  any  time  to  arrive  at  a  just  basis  for  charges  on  any 
particular  item. 

There  is  not  so  much  use  for  this  advice  with  the 
large  city  law  office.  The  large  office  in  the  city  usually 
feels  the  necessity  of  system  in  this  particular.  It  is  in 
the  smaller  offices  and  particularly  in  the  country  office 
where  the  lawyer  gets  into  the  habit  of  letting  things  of 
this  sort  slide  and  making  up  his  charges  by  guess  work. 
In  other  professions  the  practitioner  makes  his  charges, 
as  he  does  his  work,  from  day  to  day.  The  physician 
does  this,  and  if  he  is  successful  from  a  financial  stand- 
point he  does  it  religiously.  He  sends  out  his  bills  on 
the  first  of  the  month,  as  does  the  shopkeeper,  and  he 
collects  them.  The  average  lawyer  has  no  system  in 
this  respect  whatever.  He  seldom  itemizes  his  bills  and 
he  seldom  sends  out  a  monthly  statement.  This  arises 
largely  from  fear  on  the  part  of  the  lawyer  that  he  will 
lose  his  clients  by  asking  for  money.  The  fear  is  usually 
a  groundless  one,  because  the  best  patronized  business 
man  is  the  business  man  that  is  prompt  in  his  collect- 
ing. Those  of  us  who  run  credits  know  that  we  would 
sooner  patronize  the  house  to  whom  we  owe  nothing 
than  one  where  we  have  an  outstanding  bill  unpaid. 

It  is  the  house  that  is  most  prompt  in  getting 
in  its  money  that  holds  its  customers  the  best.  Here 
and  there  it  may  make  an  enemy  by  being  too  insistent 
on  bills  being  paid  when  they  are  due,  but  in  the  long 


216  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

run  the  business  man  wins  by  prompt  collecting.  The 
lawyer  who  has  a  client  who  owes  him  money  is  adopt- 
ing a  very  foolish  policy  in  not  pressing  for  the  money 
since  the  tendency  will  be,  on  the  part  of  that  client,  so 
long  as  he  owes  the  money,  to  think  twice  before  he 
enters  the  lawyer's  office  again  on  another  matter. 

It  is  the  same  with  the  lawyer  as  it  is  with  the  doc- 
tor or  the  dentist.  If  we  owe  a  bill  we  put  off  a  visit 
to  the  man  we  owe  as  long  as  we  can.  Once  the  bill  is 
paid,  however,  we  unhesitatingly  return. 

Many  a  lawyer  has  a  reputation  in  his  community  for 
being  an  easy  mark ;  any  one  can  consult  him,  either  in 
his  office  or  on  the  street,  or  at  the  corner  drug  store, 
or  wherever  he  may  be;  his  legal  information  is  on  tap 
at  short  notice  and  without  pay.  He  is  easy  and  is  so 
recognized.  There  is  no  more  reason  why  a  lawyer 
should  give  away  his  knowledge,  which  is  his  stock  in 
trade,  than  there  is  that  the  doctor  should  go  about  giv- 
ing free  advice.  Many  a  lawyer,  as  I  have  said,  is  recog- 
nized in  the  community  as  not  only  able  but  willing  to 
open  himself  up  on  all  occasions  at  no  expense  to  inquir- 
ers for  advice.  This  sort  of  a  lawyer  soon  learns  to 
charge  inadequate  fees  and  as  a  rule  is  a  poor  collector 
of  his  fees. 

The  entry  of  the  layman  into  the  business  of  com- 
mercial law  and  collections  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
practice  of  dividing  fees  between  forwarder  and  receiver. 
It  was  always  repugnant  to  ethical  ideas  that  a  lawyer 
should  divide  his  fees,  even  with  a  brother  lawyer.  The 
ethical  practice  was  for  each  to  make  his  own  charge 
and  the  combined  charge  was  the  client's  bill.  It  was 
inevitable  that  when  agencies  came  into  the  field  so- 
liciting business  and  offering  to  collect  and  adjust  with 
and  without  the  assistance  of  lawyers,  that  some  such 
arrangement  for  compensation  to  the  agency  should 
come  about;  the  agency,  having  the  whip  hand, 
could  make  its  own  terms  with  the  lawyer,  who  in  time 


AND    HIS   WORK  217 

became  dependent  upon  the  agency  for  a  large  part  of 
his  business.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  the  agency 
would  receive  business  from  clients  and  send  it  out  to 
attorneys  without  receiving  compensation.  It  was  easier 
to  ask  the  attorney  for  a  portion  of  his  fees  than  it  was 
to  ask  the  client  for  an  additional  fee  wherever  a  matter 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  an  attorney.  The  practice, 
therefore,  quickly  grew  up  and  seems  to  have  become 
well  entrenched. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  the  ethical  char- 
acter of  the  practice  has  come  into  serious  question.  If 
a  reason  for  this  question  is  sought  it  may  be  found  in 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  general  awakening  in  the  profes- 
sion to  the  fact  that  professional  standards  and  ideals 
have  been  considerably  lowered  in  the  last  decade,  and 
there  are  some  earnest  men  who  are  endeavoring  to 
bring  the  profession  back  to  its  former  position.  An- 
other reason,  perhaps  even  more  potent,  is  the  fact  that 
within  the  last  few  years  agencies  have  dealt  with  the 
matter  of  fees  and  other  conditions  imposed  upon  the 
lawyers  in  such  a  high  handed  way  that  the  lawyers  are 
seriously  considering  the  breaking  up  of  the  entire  sys- 
tem and  the  inaugurating  of  a  new  regime. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  some  states,  as  in  the  state 
of  New  York,  the  attorneys  encouraged  by  legislation 
are  refusing  to  divide  fees  with  laymen.  The  ultra  eth- 
ical lawyer  is  refusing  even  to  divide  fees  with  his  fellow 
lawyer.  The  example  set  in  the  state  of  New  York  is 
having  its  influence  throughout  the  entire  country  and, 
as  secretary  of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America, 
I  find  myself  almost  daily  in  receipt  of  letters  from  law- 
yers throughout  the  country  asking  whether  it  is  per- 
missable  to  divide  fees  with  laymen.  Prior  to  two  years 
ago  I  never  had  such  a  question  asked  me.  The  prac- 
tice went  unquestioned.  The  fact  that  it  has  sprung  into 
prominence  so  suddenly  and  that  it  has  met  with  such  a 
quick  and  sympathetic  response  on  the  part  of  the  law- 


218  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

yers  of  the  country  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  day 
of  the  division  of  fees  with  laymen  is  nearly  ended — at 
least  that  it  is  in  the  afternoon. 

I  am  satisfied  that  there  will  have  to  be  a  readjust- 
ment of  things.  In  New  York,  agencies  generally  are 
adopting  the  plan  of  sending  business  to  attorneys  on  a 
scale  that  does  not  require  a  division  of  fees.  There  is 
in  fact  a  division,  but  the  division  does  not  appear  on 
the  face  of  the  agreement.  For  instance,  the  regular 
schedule  of  fees  now  recommended  by  the  League  and 
adopted  quite  generally  is  on  the  15  per  cent  basis.  This 
permits  a  division  of  fees,  allowing  to  the  receiving 
attorney  10  per  cent  and  to  the  forwarder  5  per  cent, 
the  proportion  being  two-thirds  to  the  receiver  and  one- 
third  to  the  forwarder.  Instead  of  sending  the  business 
out  as  formerly  with  a  demand  for  a  rebate  of  one-third, 
the  business  is  now  being  sent  out  on  the  10  per  cent 
basis  net  to  the  attorney  without  anything  being  said 
as  to  rebate,  the  agency  retaining  from  the  proceeds  its 
5  per  cent  and  accounting  to  the  client  for  the  proceeds 
less  the  agreed  rate  of  15  per  cent.  Just  what  construc- 
tion courts  might  make  of  this  sort  of  an  arrangement  I 
am  not  prepared  to  say.  On  the  face  of  the  thing  it  is 
regular.  Strictly  speaking  both  the  agency  and  the  re- 
ceiving attorney  should  bill  for  their  services  to  the  client 
and  each  bill  should  be  separate  and  distinct,  in  which 
case  there  could  be  no  ground  for  fault  finding. 

The  example  of  the  agencies  in  New  York  that  are 
now  sending  out  business  on  the  "net"  plan  is  being  fol- 
lowed throughout  the  country  generally.  Many  agen- 
cies in  Chicago,  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  elsewhere  who 
do  not  employ  New  York  attorneys  to  any  great  extent 
have  adopted  the  net  plan  in  all  their  business  trans- 
actions. That  this  will  ultimately  be  the  method  of 
procedure  I  do  not  doubt.  I  believe  that  along  with  the 
old  10  per  cent  schedule  of  fees  this  practice  of  dividing 
fees  will  soon  be  in  limbo. 


AND    HIS    WORK  219 

There  seems  to  be  a  misunderstanding  or  a  miscon- 
ception of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America's  re- 
lation to  this  matter  of  a  division  of  fees.  Let  it  be 
understood  that  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  Amer- 
ica has  never  acted  on  the  question;  it  has  never  said 
that  there  should  be  a  division  of  fees  and  it  has  never 
said  that  there  should  not  be  a  division.  It  has  simply 
been  silent  on  the  ubject.  In  fact,  the  question  never 
came  seriously  to  public  attention  until  quite  recently, 
so  that  the  League  has  never  felt  itself  called  upon  to 
take  a  stand,  if  indeed  it  could  take  a  stand  in  the  present 
condition  of  things.  The  only  action  on  the  subject 
taken  by  the  League  has  been  a  resolution  passed  at  a 
convention  several  years  ago  which  declared  that  the 
proper  division  was  one-third  to  the  forwarder  and  two- 
thirds  to  the  receiver.  It  was  not  a  declaration  as  to 
the  propriety  of  making  a  division  in  any  case.  It  sim- 
ply said  that  where  a  division  is  to  be  made  it  is  to  be 
made  in  the  proportion  of  one-third  and  two-thirds.  The 
reason  for  this  resolution  was  that  many  agencies  in 
their  greed  were  requiring  of  attorneys  that  they  rebate 
not  one-third  but  one-half. 

Personally  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  re- 
ceiving attorneys  earns  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  fee. 
If  I  were  to  fix  the  proportion  at  what  I  consider  just  I 
would  fix  it  at  from  three-fourths  to  four-fifths,  and  I 
would  be  inclined  to  the  latter  figure.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  of  recent  years  agencies  and  forwarders  gen- 
erally have  learned  a  thousand  and  one  tricks  for  the 
collecting  of  mercantile  claims  direct,  through  free  de- 
mand letters,  free  drafts  furnished  to  the  clients,  direct 
office  demand  letters  and  office  drafts,  post  offices,  banks, 
telegraph,  adjusters  and  a  great  variety  of  methods  that 
are  known  to  the  shrewd  collector.  The  result  of  this 
is  that  very  little  goes  to  the  attorney  that  has  not  been 
thoroughly  threshed  over,  and  the  lawyer  earns  every 
dollar  of  the  fee.     He  has  little  to  thank  the  forwarder 


220  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

for,  inasmuch  as  what  he  receives  is  sent  him  of  neces- 
sity and  not  through  any  desire  on  the  forwarder's  part 
to  favor  the  receiver  with  remunerative  business. 

I  have  no  doubt,  however,  but  what  the  one-third  and 
two-thirds  division  will  continue  indefinitely,  though  as 
I  have  intimated  the  two-thirds  will  be  allowed  as  net 
fees  with  nothing  said  as  to  a  rebate.  That  a  forwarder 
should  ask  a  division  of  50-50  is  rank  impertinence  and 
such  terms  should  be  spurned  by  every  self-respecting 
lawyer. 

Every  lawyer  outside  of  those  jurisdictions  where  the 
legislatures  and  the  courts  have  passed  on  the  question 
of  the  legitimacy  of  the  division  of  fees  with  laymen, 
will  have  to  be  his  own  judge  as  to  what  it  is  proper 
for  him  to  do.,  On  the  side  of  the  division  of  fees 
plan  is  the  general  custom  that  has  been  in  existence 
for  many  years  and  has  been  almost  universally  ob- 
served. On  the  other  hand,  as  against  the  practice,  is 
the  ethical  consideration  which  is  recognized  by  the  leg- 
islatures and  courts  of  several  states,  as  I  have  said. 
The  lawyer  simply  has  to  make  up  his  mind  as  to 
whether  he  will  observe  the  general  practice  and  con- 
tinue to  divide  his  fees  with  laymen  or  whether  he  will 
insist  that  business  be  sent  him  in  accordance  with  old 
time  ethical  rules  without  a  requirement  on  his  part  to 
give  up  a  portion  of  the  fee  to  the  one  who  furnishes  him 
the  business. 

On  other  pages  of  this  book  we  have  discussed  spe- 
cific questions  in  connection  with  the  charging  of  fees, 
as  for  instance,  where  claims  are  paid  direct,  where  a 
collection  is  made  through  the  taking  back  of  the  con- 
sideration of  the  debt,  etc.,  and  it  is  not  necessary  here 
to  go  over  the  ground  again.  What  I  want  to  urge  here, 
however,  is  that  where  a  fee  is  earned  by  a  lawyer  he 
insist  upon  its  payment.  Many  a  lawyer  hesitates  to 
bill  a  client  for  a  fee  on,  we  will  say,  a  paid  direct  item, 
because  of  a  desire  not  to  offend  or  not  to  put  in  jeop- 


AND    HIS    WORK  221 

ardy  his  good  standing  with  the  client.  This  is  a  spe- 
cies of  business  cowardice.  No  cHent  can  fail  to  appreci- 
ate the  justness  of  a  lawyer's  claim  for  fees  where  the 
facts  are  plainly  placed  before  him  and  where  the  attor- 
ney shows  himself  to  be  in  earnest  in  his  position.  I  have 
had  attorneys  say  to  me  that  they  have  scores  of  cases 
arising  during  a  year  in  which  they  have  been  cheated 
out  of  their  fees.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  in  these 
cases,  generally  speaking,  the  attorney  has  not  stood 
upon  his  rights  and  compelled  their  recognition  as  he 
should.  If  the  attorneys  throughout  the  country  would, 
with  unanimity  and  with  some  degree  of  firmness,  insist 
on  the  payment  of  their  fees  in  such  cases  as  we  have 
indicated,  clients  and  forwarders  would,  in  a  short  time, 
come  to  recognize  the  rules  and  the  propriety  of  the  rules 
and  there  would  be  no  questions  asked.  The  client 
would  expect,  without  question,  where  a  claim  is  paid 
direct  or  where  property  is  taken  in  payment  of  the  claim 
that  the  attorney  should  be  compensated  promptly  and 
adequately.  Until  attorneys  insist  upon  their  rights  in 
these  matters  there  will  be  a  disposition  on  the  part  of 
forwarders  and  clients  to  disregard  their  rights. 

The  lawyer  should  never  divide  his  fee  with  the 
client.  This  proposition  seems  self-evident.  However, 
thousands  of  lawyers  are  daily  dividing  fees  with  clients, 
though  in  most  cases  unconsciously. 

A  large  part  of  the  business  received  by  lawyers  from 
agencies  is  business  really  sent  direct  by  clients  through 
the  medium  of  their  own  collection  departments  and 
their  own  house  attorneys  who  mask  themselves  as  in- 
dependent agencies  or  attorneys,  whereas  they  are  noth- 
ing more  than  a  department  of  the  client's  business. 
They  are  not  entitled  to  a  portion  of  the  lawyer's  fees 
any  more  than  would  the  bookkeeper  of  the  client  be 
entitled  to  it  or  his  credit  man  were  he  to  ask  it  in  the 
capacity  of  bookkeeper  or  credit  man. 

The  house  agency  evil  has  been  referred  to  in  another 


222  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

chapter  of  this  book.  I  cannot  too  severely  condemn  the 
growing  practice  adopted  by  clients  of  endeavoring  to 
run  their  bookkeeping  and  collection  and  credit  depart- 
ment at  the  expense  of  the  lawyer,  I  say  "growing 
practice,"  for  I  believe  that  the  practice  is  on  the  increase, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  Commercial  Law 
League  of  America  to  unearth  these  pseudo  agencies  and 
publish  their  names  to  its  members. 

When  business  is  received  from  an  agency  that  is  not 
well  known  as  being  a  general  agency  entitled  to  a  por- 
tion of  the  fee  (provided  the  lawyer  admits  the  layman 
in  such  cases  to  be  so  entitled)  the  entire  fee  should  be 
withheld  by  the  receiving  attorney,  and  if  there  is  ob- 
jection made  by  the  agency  the  agency  should  be  com- 
pelled to  show  its  right  to  the  fee.  In  a  very  large  num- 
ber of  cases  it  will  be  found  that  the  agency  will  not  in- 
sist on  a  proportion  of  the  fee  if  the  lawyer  objects  to 
paying  it.  The  house  agency  goes  on  the  theory  that  it 
will  get  what  it  can  and  it  is  so  much  ahead  by  just  what 
it  can  induce  the  lawyer  to  give  up. 

I  think  I  am  right  in  saying  that  lawyers  annually 
are  returning  to  their  clients  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  of  their  well  earned  fees.  There  is  not  a  single 
case  of  refund  to  a  house  agency  that  the  lawyer  would 
stand  for  if  he  knew  that  this  refund  was  going  into  the 
coffers  of  the  client.  The  safest  way  to  do  is  to  presume 
that  where  business  is  received  from  an  agency  the  lat- 
ter is  not  entitled  to  a  division  of  fees.  The  cases  where 
the  presumption  should  not  prevail  are,  where  it  is 
known  from  past  experience  or  from  the  general  repu- 
tation of  the  agency  that  the  agency  is  a  general  agency 
and  not  a  house  agency. 

It  does  not  pay  a  lawyer  to  take  advantage  of  a  client 
or  a  forwarder  in  the  matter  of  fees.  There  might  have 
been  a  time  when  a  lawyer  could  "put  it  over"  on  a  for- 
warder or  a  client,  and  occasionally  he  did  so,  with  the 
feeling  that  the  business  in  hand  was  probably  the  only 


AND    HIS    WORK  223 

piece  of  business  he  would  receive  from  that  source  and 
that  by  making  hay  while  the  sun  shone  he  could  get 
away  with  a  charge  that  was  beyond  reason. 

The  time  has  gone  by  when  this  can  be  safely  done, 
because  the  law  lists  nowadays  are  wide  awake  to  com- 
plaints of  overcharges  and  the  attorney  representing  a 
law  list  cannot  well  mistreat  one  client  without  its  hav- 
ing an  effect  on  his  business  from  other  sources. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  has  be- 
come the  center  of  complaints  of  this  sort  and  a  record 
is  there  kept  for  the  advantage  of  its  entire  membership 
of  men  who  take  advantage  of  opportunities  to  cheat 
clients.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  in  proportion  to  the  vast 
amount  of  business  that  is  being  placed  with  receiving 
attorneys  throughout  the  country  the  claims  for  over- 
charges in  fees  are  very  few  in  number. 

The  man  guilty  of  overcharging  nowadays  either  does 
not  know  the  risk  he  is  taking  in  thus  jeopardizing  his 
entire  commercial  business  or  he  is  so  desperately  in 
need  of  money  that  he  is  willing  to  take  the  chances. 

The  two  great  stabilizers  and  regulators  of  the  com- 
mercial business  in  recent  years  are  the  law  lists  and  the 
Commercial  Law  League  of  America.  These  two  ele- 
ments acting  in  harmony  are  bringing  about  a  condition 
of  comparative  safety  in  the  transaction  of  commercial 
business  between  clients  and  the  receiving  attorneys. 

No  measure  of  the  fees  chargeable  in  law  suits  on 
commercial  matters  has  ever  been  adopted.  In  the  very 
nature  of  the  case  none  can  ever  be  adopted  that  would 
be  satisfactory,  because  there  is  no  one  who  can  say 
when  a  commercial  suit  is  begun  where  it  will  end.  It 
may  go  to  a  default  judgment  and  collection  may  easily 
be  made  on  execution,  or  it  may  go  to  a  trial  more  or  less 
protracted,  and  the  judgment  may  be  appealed  to  a 
higher  court  and  even  may  reach  to  the  very  highest. 

The  only  attempt  made  by  any  authority  to  regulate 
commercial  suits  is  that  made  by  the  Commercial  Law 


224  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

League  of  America  in  recommending  a  minimum  fee 
(please  bear  in  mind  that  the  word  "minimum"  is  used 
in  connection  with  suit  fees  in  the  League  schedule;  the 
word  "minimum"  is  not  used  in  connection  with  claims 
collected  without  suit).  All  that  the  League  has  intend- 
ed to  say  with  reference  to  fees  in  suits  is  that  the  min- 
imum charge  shall  be  $7.50  plus  the  ordinary  commis- 
sion as  on  claims  collected  without  suit.  It  has  simply 
said  that  it  is  recommended  that  lawyers  shall  not  go 
into  court  for  a  less  fee  than  as  stated.  There  can  be  no 
other  meaning  of  the  word  "minimum"  in  connection 
with  suit  fees  as  expressed  in  the  schedule.  It  is  not 
intended  to  say  that  the  suit  fee  on  say  a  $1,000  claim 
shall  be  $7.50  plus  commissions. 

There  should  be  an  understanding  with  the  client  in 
every  case  where  a  suit  is  to  be  instituted  on  a  commer- 
cial matter.  This  understanding  should  be  as  definite 
as  possible  as  to  the  charge  in  case  of  collection,  which 
understanding  should  be  varied  from  time  to  time  as  the 
matter  takes  on  new  and  unexpected  phases. 

If  it  is  said,  as  it  often  is  said,  that  the  minimum  suit 
fee  provided  by  the  League  schedule  is  too  large  on  small 
litigated  matters,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  there 
is  an  additional  provision  made  that  in  no  case  shall  the 
suit  fee  be  more  than  half  the  claim.  So  that,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  an  agreement,  a  suit  fee  on  a  $5  claim  could  not 
be  over  $2.50.  Certainly  no  one  will  claim  that  this  is 
an  exorbitant  charge. 

I  want  right  here  to  insist  on  the  importance  of  at- 
torneys consulting  with  their  clients  regarding  fees  on 
prospective  work  before  the  work  is  undertaken.  I  have 
found,  and  so  has  every  other  lawyer,  that  the  client  is 
much  more  willing  to  allow  a  larger  fee  than  ordinarily 
provided,  in  advance  of  the  work  being  done,  than  he  is 
willing  to  allow  after  the  work  is  completed.  I  was 
asked  the  other  day  by  a  Chicago  law  firm  if  they  were 
not  entitled  to  more  than  the  ordinary  commission  on  a 


AND    HIS    WORK  225 

collection  which  they  had  had  in  their  hands  for  three 
years  and  on  which  they  had  received  payments  from 
month  to  month  of  $10  each.  They  had  done  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  work  on  this  claim  and  had  only  suc- 
ceeded, after  three  years,  in  a  obtaining  a  full  settlement. 
They  said  that  in  remitting  they  had  kept  a  fee  far  in 
advance  of  the  schedule  and  that  they  considered  them- 
selves entitled  to  it.  I  said,  beyond  question  of  a  doubt 
they  had  earned  every  dollar  of  the  charge  that  they 
made  and  even  more,  but  that  they  could  not,  in  good 
conscience,  charge  more  than  the  regular  schedule  be- 
cause there  had  been  no  understanding  to  that  effect  be- 
tween themselves  and  their  clients,  and  the  claim  had 
been  sent  them  on  the  schedule  prevailing  at  the  time 
the  business  was  placed  in  their  hands.  During  all  of 
these  three  years  they  had  kept  silent  as  to  the  amount 
of  work  they  were  being  required  to  do.  They  had  not 
complained  of  the  arrangements  as  to  fees  and  they  were 
now  in  duty  bound  to  abide  by  their  agreement ;  they 
had  no  right  to  vary  from  its  terms  simply  because  they 
felt  that  they  had  earned  more  money.  They  had  to 
agree  with  me  and,  while  it  hurt,  they  gave  up  the  over- 
charge to  their  clients.  I  am  satisfied  that  had  they 
gone  to  their  clients  in  the  early  stages  of  the  business 
and  laid  before  them  the  facts,  showing  what  was  before 
them  in  the  way  of  work,  they  could  have  had  as  a  fee 
almost  any  figure  they  might  have  named. 

After  the  money  is  all  collected,  and  the  client  has 
it  in  his  possession,  at  least  constructively,  he  is  in  no 
temper  to  listen  to  the  plea  of  the  lawyer,  as  he  looks 
upon  the  money  as  his  and  the  large  amount  of  work 
done  by  the  lawyer  does  not  impress  him,  particularly  as 
the  lawyer  has  never  complained  of  the  amount  of  ser- 
vice he  was  being  required  to  give. 

Any  law  firm  or  lawyer  can  increase  his  income  very 
appreciably  if  he  will  make  it  a  rule  of  his  office  that  when 
business  of  unusual  difficulty  presents  itself  for  the  doing 


226  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

of  which  the  usual  schedule  of  fees  is  unsatisfactory,  he 
will  go  to  his  client  or  to  the  forwarder  and  frankly  lay 
the  facts  before  him. 

One  reason  why  it  is  easy  to  obtain  better  results  in 
the  way  of  fees  by  asking  for  them  in  advance  is  that 
in  cases  like  those  we  are  talking  about,  the  client  (if  the 
matter  is  sent  direct  by  a  client)  has  usually  charged  the 
matter  off  to  profit  and  loss  or  is  not  considering  it  as  a 
valuable  asset  and  he  is  glad  to  offer  the  additional  in- 
centive for  good  work.  Where  the  matter  is  sent  by 
a  forwarder  the  chances  are  very  many  (as  I  have  hinted 
heretofore)  that  the  forwarder  has  received  a  better  per- 
centage arrangement  from  his  client  than  what  he  makes 
with  the  attorney  to  whom  he  sends  the  business.  He 
sends  it  out  on  a  lower  schedule,  hoping  that  collection 
may  be  made  and  that  he  may  have  not  only  the  one-third 
rebate  but  also  the  difference  between  the  percentage 
he  receives  from  the  client  and  the  percentage  he  pays  to 
the  attorney.  So  that  on  receiving  a  request  from  the 
attorney  for  a  better  fee  he  does  not  need  to  discuss  it 
with  his  client,  but  can  give  the  better  fee  at  once. 

There  have  been  many  suggestions  made  looking  to 
the  classification  of  claims  on  the  basis  of  age,  or  previ- 
ous condition  of  servitude,  charging,  we  will  say,  5  per 
cent  on  claims  thirty  days  overdue,  10  per  cent  on  claims 
over  thirty  and  less  than  six  months  overdue,  15  per  cent 
on  claims  over  six  months  and  under  a  year  overdue,  20 
per  cent,  25  per  cent  and  even  up  to  50  per  cent  on  still 
older  matters.  Such  a  classification  of  claims  and  gradu- 
ation of  fees  is  entirely  impracticable.  It  will  only  work 
in  theory.  Many  a  claim  a  year  old  is  easier  to  collect 
than  many  another  thirty  days  old.  It  is  not  so  much 
the  age  of  a  claim  as  its  condition.  A  division  based  on 
age  will  never  prove  satisfactory. 

Some  have  insisted  that  claims  sent  first  hand  to  the 
attorney  without  being  worked  on  by  middlemen  or  by 
fellow  lawyers  could  well  be  handled  at  a  small  percent- 


AND    HIS    WORK  227 

age,  and  that  claims  that  have  been  handled  by  other  at- 
torneys or  that  have  been  threshed  over  in  the  forward- 
ing office  should  bear  a  large  percentage.  This  sort 
of  a  classification  also  is  impracticable,  and  it  opens  the 
door  for  many  abuses.  The  receiving  lawyer  would 
never  know  save  in  exceptional  cases  what  had  been  the 
previous  wbrk  done  on  the  claim  and  it  would  always 
leave  him  in  that  uncertainty  which  would  tempt  him  to 
assume  in  every  case  that  the  claim  falls  within  the  class 
that  entitles  him  to  the  big  percentage. 

The  only  practical  way  of  building  a  fee  schedule  is 
to  take  the  average  claim  and  build  a  schedule  to  fit  it, 
with  the  idea  that  the  door  is  always  open  between  the 
lawyer  and  his  client  or  the  forwarder  for  a  different  ar- 
rangement. The  fault  that  is  found  with  the  League's 
recommended  schedule  is  that  it  is  too  high  for  certain 
classes  of  claims  and  too  low  for  certain  other  classes. 
This  is  very  true.  No  power  on  earth,  however,  could 
settle  a  schedule  that  would  fit  every  individual  claim. 
There  must  be  an  average  struck.  Again  I  say,  the  law- 
yer and  his  client  are  always  within  ear  shot,  so  to  speak, 
and  there  is  no  excuse  for  the  attorney  in  cases  where  he 
cannot  do  the  business  on  the  usual  schedule  refusing  or 
neglecting  the  business  by  reason  thereof.  I  have  found 
that  both  forwarders  and  clients  are  amenable  to  reason. 
What  they  both  want  is  the  money,  and  before  they  get 
it  they  are  in  a  condition  of  mind  to  buy  service.  After 
they  get  the  money  they  are  apt  to  be  in  a  condition  of 
mind  to  keep  the  money  and  disregard  the  service. 

To  the  man  who  says  that  the  schedule  is  too  high 
for  certain  classes  of  business,  I  say  he  must  not  forget 
to  figure  in  the  overhead  expenses  of  his  office  and  the 
vast  amount  of  labor  he  does  for  that  client  and  others 
at  no  remuneration  whatever;  and  that  a  fee  must  be 
established  that  will,  on  the  average,  make  the  com- 
mercial practice  productive.  I  know  it  will  be  argued 
that  in  such  a  condition  of  affairs  the  man  who  gives 


228  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

the  good  business  to  the  attorney  is  being  called  on  to 
pay  the  cost  of  the  doing  of  the  business  by  the  attor- 
ney, which  he  fails  to  receive  compensation  for.  It  is 
said  that  this  is  not  fair.  In  a  sense,  it  is  true;  yet 
■\Vhen  the  grocer  places  a  price  on  his  goods  he  figures 
(if  he  is  a  good  business  man)  on  his  losses  and  his  bad 
debts,  on  his  spoiled  goods,  on  his  unsaleable  stock,  and 
the  stufi  that  he  sells  must  produce  a  profit  sufficient 
to  take  care  of  the  losses.  The  lawyer,  in  establishing 
fee  rates,  must  take  into  consideration  that  he  is  in  the 
same  position  with  the  merchant  in  that  he  has  service 
for  sale  and  that  for  much  of  that  service  he  gets  noth- 
ing, for  much  more  of  it  he  gets  inadequate  pay,  and 
that  if  he  is  to  come  out  at  the  end  of  the  year  with  a 
fair  degree  of  success  in  a  money  way  he  must  make 
his  average  charge  such  as  will  produce  a  profit — all 
things  considered. 

I  want  to  talk  for  a  moment  to  the  lawyer  who  con- 
siders that  he  is  in  an  exceptional  position  and  is  en- 
titled to  more  money  for  his  work  than  is  his  brother 
lawyer  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  He  hesitates  to 
agree  to  the  recommended  schedule  of  the  Commercial 
Law  League  of  America  because,  as  he  says,  that  sched- 
ule is  made  for  the  favored  American  community,  to 
which  his  community  cannot  be  compared.  Conditions, 
he  thinks,  are  unusual  with  him  and  entitle  him  to  spe- 
cial consideration  in  the  way  of  fees.  I  have  much  sym- 
pathy with  the  lawyer  so  placed.  Without  any  ques- 
tion there  are  localities  in  the  United  States  where,  by 
reason  of  the  excessive  cost  of  living  and  the  scarcity 
of  clerical  help,  and  therefore  the  necessity  of  paying 
higher  wages,  the  lawyer  is  up  against  a  condition  that 
his  brother  lawyer,  in  older  and  more  settled  communi- 
ties, does  not  have  to  meet.  I  am  going  to  suggest  that 
however  much  such  lawyers  may  deserve  a  higher 
schedule  of  fees  they  can  serve  themselves  and  the  pro- 
fession best  by  sacrificing  to  some  extent  and  permit- 


AND    HIS    WORK  229 

ting  the  generally  accepted  schedule  to  govern  in  their 
business. 

Lawyers  who  plead  for  unusually  high  rates  for  their 
own  particular  localities  use  one  or  more  of  the  follow- 
ing arguments : 

We  are  doing  business  in  a  new,  sparsely  settled 
country.  Towns  are  far  apart  and  often  well  nigh  in- 
accessible. The  people  are  new  comers  and  mostly  ir- 
responsible. The  cost  of  living  is  high.  The  lawyer's 
work  is  precarious. 

Our  community  is  not  a  commercial  community. 
The  towns  are  small  and  the  population  mainly  rural. 
Business  men  are  conservative.  The  people  are  as  a 
whole  comfortably  well  off.  The  collection  of  commer- 
cial claims  is  but  incidental  to  the  lawyers'  work  and  not 
desirable  business.  If  we  undertake  such  matters  it  must 
be  for  a  compensation  that  will  warrant  it. 

Or,  we  do  business  in  the  city.  Rents  are  heavy.  Office 
help  is  expensive.  Living  expenses  are  at  the  top  notch. 
Unlike  the  lawyer  in  the  small  town,  we  can  be  person- 
ally acquainted  with  but  a  small  percentage  of  the  peo- 
ple, so  that  nearly  every  item  requires  personal  investi- 
gation. An  unusually  large  proportion  of  the  incoming 
items  are  worthless  and  constitute  a  liability.  We  must 
have  special  fees  on  matters  that  we  can  realize  on  to 
make  up  for  the  loss  on  what  is  worthless. 

We  prefer  a  local  clientage,  and,  without  unusual 
compensation,  we  will  not  risk  the  loss  of  impairment 
of  it  by  accepting  business  that  requires  us  to  take  steps 
against  our  own  people.  Pay  us  well  and  we  will  do 
it,  but  what  we  consider  "well"  we  must  ourselves  de- 
termine. 

Foreign  clients,  foreign  agencies,  foreign  law  lists 
have  succeeded  in  battering  down  the  rates  to  a  point 
where  self-respecting  lawyers  cannot  afiford  to  do  the 
work.  We  will,  therefore,  combine  in  our  community 
and  make  it  impossible  for  outside  commercial  interests 


230  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

to  do  anything  here  excepting  upon  our  own  terms.  Our 
rate  is  high  and  we  have  intentionally  made  it  so  by  way 
of  retaliation. 

The  business  of  handling  commercial  claims  is  unre- 
munerative  at  its  best  and  by  placing  a  practically  pro- 
hibitive tariff  on  it  we  will  get  rid  of  it. 

The  business  of  handling  commercial  claims  in  our 
community  is  monopolized  by  a  few  firms  or  individuals 
and  these  persons  by  accepting  business  sent  them  at 
any  and  every  rate  have  obtained  an  unusual  business 
and  have  assumed  undue  importance  in  the  public  eye. 
One  way  of  equalizing  matters  is  to  make  bar  rates  that 
will  cause  all  to  stand  on  the  same  footing. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  through 
its  Secretary's  office  has  gathered  data  showing  that  in 
over  2,000  cities  and  towns  the  lawyers  of  the  country 
are  working  under  Bar  Association  fee  schedules,  hardly 
any  two  sets  of  which  are  alike. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  has  under- 
taken a  thorough  census  of  all  Bar  rate  communities 
which  have  established  abnormal  rates,  so  that  for  the 
first  time  in  commercial  history  the  credit  and  collection 
world  can  have  instant  and  accurate  information  of 
where  these  conditions  prevail  and  be  able  to  protect  it- 
self. 

In  many  cases  the  schedules  adopted  are  apparently 
retaliatory  in  their  purpose,  and  have  gone  as  far  to  the 
extreme  in  the  direction  of  exorbitant  fees  as  have  the 
worst  examples  of  low  fee  schedules  adopted  by  greedy 
forwarders  gone  in  the  other  direction. 

Some  of  these  schedules  are  so  nearly  prohibitive 
that  where  they  have  become  known  to  credit  men, 
credit  has  been  refused  to  local  merchants,  excepting 
where  the  responsibility  and  integrity  of  the  buyer  are 
unquestioned.  When  commercial  accounts  are  in  peril 
in  these  communities,  traveling  men,  commercial  ad- 
justers, or  lawyers    from   the  client's  own  town  or  from 


AND    HIS    WORK  231 

neighboring  communities  arc   sent   in   to   do  the   work 
that  belongs  to  the  local  lawyer. 

In  hundreds  of  Bar  rate  cities  and  towns  the  Bar 
rates  on  commercial  matters  are  found  to  be  a  dead  let- 
ter. In  many  cases  the  lawyers  of  the  community  do 
not  know  that  they  exist.  In  others,  some  recognize 
them  and  others  do  not. 

In  most  cases  it  has  been  found  that  where  exorbi- 
tant schedules  are  in  effect,  the  rates  on  commercial 
collections  have  been  determined  by  committees  whose 
members  would  not  recognize  a  commercial  claim  if  they 
saw  it.  Several  years  ago  an  effort  was  made  to  bring 
about  the  adoption  of  the  League's  recommended  rates 
by  the  Rate  Committee  of  the  Illinois  Bar  Association. 
It  was  found  that  not  a  single  member  of  that  commit- 
tee had  any  experience  with  commercial  business  or  had 
the  slightest  conception  of  the  importance  and  the  mag- 
nitude of  it  and  a  number  of  his  fellow  lawyers  who 
were  making  a  specialty  of  it.  The  result  was  the 
League's  effort  failed.  It  is  pleasing  to  know  that  two 
years  later  before  the  rate  committee  of  this  same  asso- 
ciation, whose  personnel  had  changed,  so  that  among  its 
members  were  commercial  attorneys,  the  League  got  a 
hearing,  with  the  result  that  an  investigation  was  made 
throughout  the  state  and  the  committee  expressed  its 
unanimous  approval  of  the  League  schedule,  and  at  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Illinois  State  Bar  Association  the 
rate  was  adopted. 

A  little  investigation  will  reveal  the  fact  that,  usu- 
ally, high  fee  schedules  on  commercial  matters  are  dic- 
tated either  by  persons  having  no  interest  in  commercial 
law  work  or  by  some  who  find  in  it  the  opportunity 
of  venting  spite  and  paying  back  old  scores. 

Excessive  commercial  fee  schedules  have  inevitably 
proved  a  boomerang,  not  only  to  the  commercial  com- 
munity, but  the  legal  community. 


232  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

The  multiplicity  of  fee  schedules,  many  of  them  ex- 
orbitant, have  induced  thousands  of  mercantile  and  man- 
ufacturing houses  to  give  up  forwarding  business  direct 
to  local  attorneys  and  to  adopt  the  plan  of  contracting 
with  collection  agencies  and  adjustment  companies,  who 
make  a  fiat  rate  with  them  for  all  their  business,  thus 
putting  upon  these  agencies  the  burden  of  dealing  with 
local  schedules,  and  thus  depriving  the  local  attorneys 
of  a  portion  of  their  fees,  which  under  the  common  law 
of  the  commercial  law  business  is  divided  between  the 
attorney  and  the  agency.  Could  the  clients  be  certain 
that  in  sending  out  their  business  to  local  attorneys  they 
would  not  be  met  with  unusual  fee  schedules,  much  ot 
the  business  that  now  goes  through  the  hands  ot 
agencies  would  go  direct  to  the  attorneys  with  a  propor- 
tionate increase  in  the  local  attorney's  income. 

There  is  no  question  but  what  the  lack  of  uniformity 
in  fee  rates  throughout  the  country  has  had  the  effect 
of  driving  the  business  out  of  the  hands  of  local  lawyers 
into  the  hands  of  agencies,  and  the  further  effect  of 
keeping  the  business  away  from  local  attorneys  and  en- 
couraging all  sorts  of  devices  for  direct  collections  be- 
tween client  and  debtor  or  between  forwarder  and 
debtor.  If  in  a  certain  mountain  district  of  the  West  a 
25  per  cent  fee  is  charged,  whereas  the  usual  basis  now 
is  15  per  cent,  the  client  is  going  to  hesitate  to  place  his 
business  in  that  district  until  he  has  exhausted  every 
possible  means  of  obtaining  the  money  direct,  and  the 
forwarder  is  going  to  do  the  same  when  the  matter 
comes  into  his  hands.  The  result  is  that  the  lawyer  in 
that  community  obtains,  as  a  rule,  worthless  stuff;  or 
at  the  best,  only  such  matters  as  cannot  be  compromised 
but  must  be  litigated. 

A  lack  of  uniformity  in  fees  compels  merchants  and 
manufacturers  to  take  refuge  in  the  agency  proposition 
that  offers  to  relieve  the  client  of  the  uncertainties  and 
inequalities  and  makes  its  contract  at  a  flat  rate  for  all 
business  anywhere. 


AND    HIS    WORK  233 

I  believe  were  we  to  get  uniformity  in  rates  there 
would  be  a  greater  tendency  to  use  local  attorneys,  which 
would  more  than  compensate  the  lawyers  in  exceptional 
communities  for  the  small  sacrifice  they  would  be  asked 
to  make  in  their  charges.  They  would  be  enabled  to  get 
a  better  class  of  business  and  more  of  it. 

I  know  there  are  certain  counties  and  certain  whole 
sections  of  states  around  which  forwarders  have  drawn 
black  lines,  and  refused  to  do  business  through  lawyers. 
This  condition  should  not  exist. 

I  have  been  surprised  to  find  that  Bar  rates  on  com- 
mercial matters  in  many  localities  are  fixed,  not  by  the 
commercial  lawyers  of  the  community  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  schedule  most  of  all,  but  by  lawyers  who 
have  in  most  cases  very  little  conception  of  the  nature  of 
commercial  business.  Commercial  lawyers  should  see 
to  it  that  when  rates  are  fixed  by  Bar  associations  they 
should  be  so  fixed  as  to  encourage,  rather  than  discour- 
age, the  sending  of  business.  There  is  nothing  that  so 
pleases  a  certain  class  of  agencies  that  I  could  name  as 
to  learn  that  a  locality  has  adopted  an  exorbitant  Bar 
rate,  because  this  class  of  agencies  flourishes  by  the 
direct  collecting  it  does  and  not  by  the  service  it  gets 
from  attorneys.  It  is  shrewd  enough  to  adopt  means  of 
collecting  that  can  dispense,  in  90  per  cent  of  the  cases 
in  its  hands,  with  the  services  of  local  attorneys. 

Despite  all  the  efforts  of  the  Commercial  Law 
League,  there  is  heard  the  constant  complaint  that  the 
uniform  schedule  of  fees,  adopted  by  the  League,  is  be- 
ing ignored  in  certain  quarters. 

Lawyers  in  many  places,  by  local  bar  rates,  have  par- 
tially solved  the  problem  for  their  immediate  vicinities. 

The  effective  local  bar  rate  is  the  exception  rather 
than  the  rule.  The  vast  majority  of  the  receiving  attor- 
neys, who  specialize  in  commercial  practice,  are  daily 
receiving  business  on  schedules  that  the  League  has 
condemned  as  inadequate  and  unfair. 


234  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Is  the  League  to  suceed  in  its  efforts  to  secure  the 
general  adoption  of  this  schedule? 

The  question  is  one  of  importance  to  a  majority  of 
its  members  and  in  our  judgment  of  much  more  impor- 
tance to  the  forwarder  than  to  the  receiver. 

The  difference  between  the  $3.(X)  and  $5.00  minimum 
fee,  between  15  per  cent  on  the  first  $300  and  10  per  cent 
on  the  first  $300,  is  of  minor  importance  compared  with 
the  real  question,  which  is,  the  proper  reciprocal  relation 
between  the  forwarder  and  the  receiver. 

Many  able  lawyers  question  the  propriety  of  a  divi- 
sion of  fees  earned  in  litigated  cases.  The  custom  of  a 
division  is  a  custom  growing  out  of  business  necessity 
and  not  out  of  professional  ethics  or  relations.  Even  if 
the  equitable  division  of  commissions  and  charges  for 
making  collections  is  properly  a  question  of  business 
contract,  the  division  of  attorneys'  fees  charged  for  try- 
ing law  suits,  while  possibly  akin  to  the  collection  com- 
mission, is  by  no  means  identical. 

The  commercial  lawyer  is  engaged  in  a  practice  in 
which  of  necessity  the  line  of  demarcation  between  busi- 
ness service  and  professional  service  is  difficult  to  clearly 
define. 

The  fine  question  of  professional  ethics  is  often  diffi- 
cult of  concise  definition.  In  a  practice  where  the  wav- 
ering balance  may  be  so  easily  disturbed,  it  behooves 
every  man  in  the  practice  to  watch  carefully  the  busi- 
ness details  of  his  profession  and  the  professional  de- 
tails of  his  business. 

If  the  forwarder  is  entitled  to  a  division  of  all  fees 

derived    from    the    business legal    business    if    you 

please — that  he  forwards,  he  is  entitled  to  it  because  he 
renders  to  the  receiver  appreciable  service  and  assist- 
ance. 

The  consideration  he  gives  must  be  valuable  and 
sufficient. 


AND   HIS   WORK  235 

His  part  of  the  contract  is  not  fulfilled  merely  by  the 
fact  that  he  comes  in  personal  contact  with  the  client 
and  performs  the  mere  physical  act  of  sending  the  item 
to  the  receiver:  To  balance  the  scale,  to  make  a  suffi- 
cient business  consideration  for  the  contract  of  division, 
the  forwarder  must  be  the  agent  of  the  receiver  as  well 
as  the  client.  It  is  his  duty  to  see  that  the  fees  charged 
are  fair  and  adequate;  to  protect  the  receiver  who  does 
the  work,  in  those  fees  and  charges.  He  should  be  a 
guarantor  to  his  correspondent  that  those  fees,  when 
earned,  will  be  paid.  He  should  not  be  heard  to  accept 
a  division  of  fees  and  at  the  same  time  escape  liability  to 
the  receiver  if  the  client  refuses  to  pay  a  proper  charge. 
He  must  be  willing  to  become  so  liable  to  his  receiver  for 
proper  charges  for  services  performed,  otherwise  there 
is  a  lack  of  consideration  to  the  contract  for  division. 
The  forwarder  who  accepts  collection  business,  who 
agrees  to  handle  litigation  on  a  schedule  of  fees  admit- 
tedly inadequate,  is  not  honestly  and  properly  consider- 
ing the  interests  of  his  associate,  the  receiving  attorney. 
He  is  not  entitled  to  and  should  not  receive  the  consid- 
eration of  the  receiver. 

Unless  the  proper  relationship  can  be  maintained, 
the  client  should  deal  directly  with  the  man  who  does 
the  work  and  the  attorney  who  does  the  work  should  deal 
directly  with  the  client. 

The  forwarder  who  persists  in  the  use  of  an  unfair 
schedule  ignores  the  interests  of  both  his  client  and  his 
correspondent;  he  is  pursuing  a  short-sighted  policy 
and  jeopardizing  his  own  position  in  the  business  and 
professional  world. 

The  schedule  of  uniform  rates  should  be  considered, 
not  from  the  sordid  viewpoint  of  dollars  and  cents,  but 
from  the  broader  viewpoint  of  what  is  just  and  equit- 
able, of  what  is  proper  consideration  and  honest  regard 
for  the  rights  of  others. 

As  to  the  matter  of  fees  for  making  commercial  re- 
ports,   I    would    suggest    that    no    commercial     report 


236  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ever  be  made  before  it  is  paid  for,  excepting  for  well- 
known  connections  whose  collecting  and  reporting  busi- 
ness is  legitimate  and  whose  fair  treatment  of  lawyers 
is  well  understood. 

There  is  no  fraud  perpetrated  on  the  commercial 
lawyer  greater  than  that  perpetrated  through  the  com- 
mercial reporting  system  as  generally  carried  on  in  this 
country,  where  a  law  list  or  mercantile  agency  can 
go  to  a  manufacturer  or  merchant  and  for  a  small  con- 
sideration sell  him  a  supply  of  blank  commercial  in- 
quiries and  give  to  him  a  list  of  attorneys  and  tell  him 
to  use  these  freely  in  the  obtaining  of  commercial  re- 
ports, and  at  the  same  time  make  it  not  even  probable 
that  the  attorney  will  receive  compensation  to  the  ex- 
tent of  one-tenth  of  his  service  in  the  making  of  those 
reports.  It  is  a  trick  of  the  devil.  Some  day  the  attor- 
neys of  the  country  are  going  to  rise  en  masse  and  de- 
mand that  the  free  reporting  system  shall  be  confined 
absolutely  to  well-known  channels  where,  by  reason  of 
long  and  honorable  treatment  of  lawyers,  the  agencies 
employing  the  system  are  deserving  of  the  lawyer's  ser- 
vice. 

The  promiscuous  requests  for  commercial  reports 
which  flood  the  office  of  the  average  commercial  attor- 
ney are  not  only  a  nuisance  but  an  absolute  detriment 
and  loss,  and  no  attorney  should  permit  himself  to  be 
thus  used.  The  best  way  to  stop  this  is  to  make  no 
commercial  reports  save  with  the  exceptions  I  have 
stated,  unless  payment  for  the  same  accompanies  the 
request.  If  no  payment  accompanies  the  request,  the 
lawyer  should  not  permit  the  insidious  suggestion  or 
promise  of  business  in  the  future  to  lead  him  astray. 
The  request  should  be  quietly  laid  aside  until  there  has 
been  a  remittance  to  pay  for  the  labor  needed  to 
answer  it. 

Many  lawyers  have  devised  forms  of  letters  to  send 
parties  asking  for  commercial  reports  which  forms  are 


AND    HIS    WORK  237 

polite  but  suggestive  hints  that  the  lawyer's  time  and 
information  is  his  capital  and  that  he  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  invest  these  without  some  returns.  If  the 
party  making  the  request  is  in  earnest  and  really  wants 
the  report,  he  will  pay  for  it. 

While  on  this  point,  I  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
many  calls  for  commercial  reports  are  made  without 
any  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  inquirer  to  sell  goods. 
Frequently,  the  requests  are  made  by  parties  having 
claims  already  against  the  individual  inquired  about  and 
the  request  is  made  with  a  view  to  learning  at  no  ex- 
pense the  proper  way  to  go  about  getting  the  money. 
It  is  one  step  taken  in  the  direction  of  collecting  the 
money  direct  and  without  the  use  of  the  attorney.  In 
other  words,  the  lawyer  is  used  agaist  himself.  Can 
anyone  think  of  a  more  outrageous  proposition? 

All  fees  should  be  promptly  collected.  It  is  with  the 
client  as  with  the  individual  generally — it  is  difficult  to 
pay  an  old  claim  no  matter  how  just  it  may  be.  One 
feels  imposed  on  to  be  asked  to  pay  what  he  has  owed 
for  several  years,  or  for  several  months.  It  is  the  bill 
that  is  promptly  received  that  gets  the  best  attention. 
The  lawyer  should  profit  by  general  experience  in  this 
respect  and  adopt  a  plan  of  sending  out  his  bills  periodi- 
cally and  following  them  up  systematically.  As  I  have 
said,  once  the  client  is  free  from  debt  to  the  lawyer,  he 
is  much  more  inclined  to  employ  him  again  than  if  he 
knows  that  he  is  already  in  the  lawyer's  debt  and  might 
be  embarrassed  to  ask  for  further  services. 

It  should  be  needless  for  me  to  say  that  costs  should 
never  be  billed  as  fees  and  fees  never  be  billed  as  costs. 
I  say  "it  should  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  say,"  but  I 
have  to  do  so  because  many  lawyers  are  in  the  habit  of 
asking  for  fees  under  the  guise  of  costs.  It  is  a  bad 
practice,  if  not  a  dishonorable  one.  The  terms  "costs" 
and  "fees"  have  a  distinct  meaning  and  should  not  be 


238  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

confused.  The  client  who  once  discovers  that  his  attor- 
ney accepts  as  fees  what  was  sent  him  as  costs  has  lost 
respect  for  that  attorney. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  Has  Legislated  as  to 
Fees  as  Follows: 

That  the  following  schedule  be  approved  as  the  uniform  rate 
for  collections,  to-wit: 

15  per  cent  on  first  $300. 

8  per  cent  on  excess  to  $1,000. 

4  per  cent  on  excess  of  $1,000. 

Minimum  fee  $5.00. 

Claims  under  $10.00,  50  per  cent. 

Minimum  svxit  fee  $7.50,  plus  commissions,  the  whole  not  ex- 
ceeding 50  per  cent  of  claim. 

That  the  members  of  the  Commercial  Law  League  in  their  re- 
spective localities  seek  the  ratification  by  the  bar  association  and 
the  lawyers  of  such  localities,  of  this  chedule,  reporting  the  ac- 
tion on  the  same  to  the  Secretary  of  the  League,  who  shall  pub- 
lish the  information  in  the  Bulletin. 

That  the  members  of  the  Legaue  are  requested  to  make  the 
schedule  of  uniform  rates  adopted  July  24,  1917,  effective  and  in 
force  in  their  respective  offices  on  and  after  November  1,  1917. 

That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  League  that  the  proper  basis  for 
the  division  of  commissions  on  collections  between  forwarders 
and  receivers  is  one-third  to  forwarder  and  two-thirds  to  the  re- 
ceiver. 

That  no  member  of  the  League  should  accept  business  on  a 
lower  scale  of  fees  than  that  provided  in  the  schedule  recom- 
mended by  the  League.  It  is  recommended  that  on  receipt  of 
business  offered  at  a  lower  rate  the  receiver  shall  return  the  same 
to  the  forwarder  with  the  information  that  he  is  a  member  of  the 
League  and  that  his  office  will  not  do  business  on  rates  lower 
than  those  provided  in  the  League's  schedule. 

That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  League  that  the  fee  rates  promul- 
gated by  the  League  are  not  mandatory,  but  are  rates  recom- 
mended to  the  members  of  the  League. 

That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  League  that  its  schedule  of  rates 
should  be  adopted  by  list  publishers,  and  we  urge  on  all  publish- 
ers of  lists  the  propriety  of  adopting  the  same. 

That  collections  by  installments  or  in  dividends  in  bank- 
ruptcy cases  shall  be  treated  as  collections  closed  in  one  trans- 
action, in  the  applying  of  the  League's  schedule  of  fees,  there 
being  no  agreement  to  the  contrary.  In  such  cases,  under  un- 
usual conditions,  it  is  open  to  the  parties  to  agree  to  another 
basis  of  charge,  it  being  impossible  for  a  schedule  of  fees  to  be 
adopted  that  will  satisfactorily  meet  all  conditions.  This  applies 
as  well  to  old  or  outlawed  claims,  disputed  claims,  etc. 

That  it  is  and  was  the  intention  of  the  League  in  adopting 
its  schedule  of  fees  to  provide  that  such  schedule  shall  prevail  in 
all  cases  where  there  is  no  agreement  between  the  parties  pro- 
viding for  a  different  rate,  it  being  always  open  to  the  parties  to 


AND    HIS    WORK  239 

the  transaction  to  agree  to  another  rate.  The  League  intends, 
however,  to  recommend  that  in  no  case  should  the  fee  rate  be 
lower  than  that  stated  in  the  League  schedule. 

That  local  bar  fee  schedules,  varying  from  the  ordinarily  ac- 
cepted schedule  of  fees  on  collection  items,  introduce  an  element 
of  uncertainty  and  dissatisfaction  in  the  commercial  law  prac- 
tice ;  that  it  tends  to  the  employment  by  the  client  or  the  for- 
warder of  any  and  every  means  of  getting  results  without  the 
employment  of  the  attorney ;  that  it  is  the  direct  cause  of  many 
unfair  practices  on  the  part  of  forwarders;  that  it  tends  to  lessen 
the  volume  of  direct  forwarding  and  in  this  way  lessens  the  at- 
torney's compensation;  that  it  assists  and  encourages  the  irre- 
sponsible attorney  who  in  every  community  is  ready  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  opportunities  and  is  not  the  subject  of  rule  or  reg- 
ulation. While  the  League  recognizes  that  unusual  conditions  pre- 
vail as  claimed,  in  many  portions  of  the  country,  it  also  recog- 
nizes that  there  is  no  locality  that  cannot  put  up  an  excuse  in 
behalf  of  unusual  fee  rates.  It  is  the  sense  of  this  Convention 
that  the  advantages  to  be  gained  from  a  freer  interchange  of 
business  that  will  be  brought  about  by  uniform  rates  would  more 
than  compensate  for  the  sacrifice  in  this  matter  of  rates  that 
some  bar  rate  communities  would  be  called  upon  to  make,  in  the 
adoption  of  the  uniform  rates  recommended  by  the  League. 

That  the  League  approves  of  the  efforts  made  by  the  Uniform 
Rate  Committee  in  conjunction  with  the  Secretary's  office  to 
bring  about  the  general  adoption  of  the  League's  schedule  of 
fees  by  local  bar  associations,  and  it  calls  upon  all  members  of  the 
League  to  give  their  influence  and  support  to  the  movement  di- 
rected toward  uniformity  in  fee  rates  on  collections,  and  on  the 
minimum  suit  fee. 


240  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Unwritten    Laws. — Rules  and  Customs. — Knotty 
Problems. — Mistakes  in  Theory  and  Practice. 


Contingent  Fees. 

The  custom,  recognized  generally  throughout  the 
United  States,  is  to  make  commissions  on  collections 
contingent  on  success.  So  general  is  the  custom  that 
even  were  the  claim  sent  an  attorney  for  collection 
with  no  provision  regarding  fee,  he  is  assumed  to  have 
accepted  it  on  a  contingent  basis  in  the  absence  of  a 
protest   on   his  part. 

Contingent  Fees  in  Suits. 

Suit  fees  are  never  contingent  on  results  save  by  spe- 
cial agreement.  The  contingent  feature  of  the  fee  sys- 
tem is  not  and  never  was  recognized  as  applying  to 
court  proceedings. 

The  reason  for  the  anomalous  rule  as  to  commissions 
on  collections  can  be  traced  directly  to  the  fact  that  in 
this  line  of  work  the  lawyer  is  competing  with  layman. 
No  such  reason  exists  in  the  case  of  court  work,  and  the 
attempt  to  stretch  the  contingent  fee  rule  to  cover  this 
class  of  work  is  inexcusable  and,  as  regards  the  lawyer, 
is  unethical  and  illegal,  since  it  is  nothing  other  than 
speculation  in  litigation. 

The  contingent  fee  on  collections  without  suit  is 
itself  of  doubtful  propriety  where  it  concerns  a  lawyer, 
as  a  collection  in  his  hands  is  a  legal  employment  and 
should  not  therefore  be  a  matter  of  speculation.  It  can 
only  be  excused  on  the  ground  of  its  long  and  well-nigh 
universal  acceptance  and  the  necessities  of  the  case, 
since  there  is  no  rule  of  ethics  or  law  to  prevent  the  law- 
yer's competitor,  the  layman,  from  engaging  in  the  work 
on  the  speculative  basis. 

A  claim  sent  for  collection  on  the  contingent  basis 
ceases  to  be  governed  by  the  contingent  arrangement 
the  moment  suit  is  begun,  on  instructions,  unless  it  is 


AND    HIS    WORK  241 

(-•"?•  •-/■-•?^ 

expressly  stipulated  that  the  fee  in  the  court  proceed- 
ings is  to  be  contingent. 

A  matter  may  be  considered  as  in  process  of  suit  the 
moment  a  step  is  taken  looking  to  and  necessary  to  the 
bringing  of  the  issue  in  court,  provided  that  undue  time 
has  not  elapsed  for  the  taking  of  further  steps  necessary 
or  proper  to  the  prompt  and  orderly  conduct  of  the  mat- 
ter. 

The  suit  fee  attaches  the  moment  legal  proceedings 
are  begun.  Stopping  of  procedure  at  any  stage  of  the 
action,  for  any  reason  whatever,  aside  from  gross  fault 
of  the  attorney,  does  not  affect  the  attorney's  right  to 
a  suit  fee,  though  it  may  be  an  element  in  deciding  as 
to  the  reasonableness  of  his  charge. 

Commercial  Law  League  of  America  and  Suit  Fees. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  has  never 
adopted  or  recommended  a  schedule  of  suit  fees.  It 
has  confined  its  recommendations  to  fees  on  collections 
without  suit  and  to  the  naming  of  a  "minimum"  suit 
fee. 

A  minimum  suit  fee  is  the  lowest  fee  chargeable 
It  is  the  lowest  limit,  not  the  highest.  Lawyers  agree- 
ing to  abide  by  the  League's  schedule,  agree  to  charge 
not  less  than  the  minimum  fee  for  suit.  There  is  noth- 
ing in  the  League's  action  to  prevent  their  charging 
more,  by  agreement  or  otherwise. 

All  that  the  League  has  said  in  effect  is  that  those 
adopting  its  schedule  of  fees  cannot  agree  to  charge  a 
suit  fee  less  than  $7.50,  plus  commissions.  By  "plus 
commissions"  is  meant  plus  the  percentage  of  money 
collected  in  the  action  that  is  provided  for  in  case  of 
collection  without  suit. 

Manifestly  if  no  money  is  collected  in  the  action,  the 
minimum  suit  fee  is  $7.50.  Illustration :  If  $50  is  sued 
for  and  not  collected,  the  lawyer's  lowest  chargable  fee 
is  $7.50;  if  it  is  collected  it  is  $7.50  plus  15  per  cent,  that 


242  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

is  $15  (since  commissions  on  collections  without  suit 
are  on  the  15  per  cent  fee  basis  where  the  amount  is 
under  $300). 

It  has  been  held  by  some  that  "plus  commissions" 
applies  whether  the  suit  ends  in  getting  the  money  or 
not.  In  other  words,  if  a  suit  is  brought  for  $50  the  fee 
of  $15  is  earned  even  though  the  action  fails  to  bring 
the  money.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  league  intends 
this.  The  wording  of  the  schedule  is :  "Minimum  fee 
in  suit  $7.50  plus  commissions."  Now,  commissions  in 
the  schedule  are  based  on  moneys  collected.  Evidently 
if  no  money  is  collected  there  can  be  no  commissions. 

So  that  I  conclude  that  in  an  unsuccessful  suit  the 
minimum  suit  fee  is  $7.50,  and  in  a  successful  suit  $7.50 
plus  the  same  commissions  as  would  be  earned  were  the 
matter  settled  without  suit. 

In  my  interpretation  of  the  League's  minimum  suit 
fee  I  have  shown  that  in  a  sense  the  League  has  injected 
a  speculative  element  into  suit  fees,  since,  if  my  inter- 
pretation is  right,  a  lawyer  must  charge  more  if  his  suit 
ends  in  getting  the  money  than  if  it  is  fruitless.  I  think 
this  question  should  be  cleared  up,  as  the  League,  rep- 
resenting the  best  thought  and  practice  of  the  Commer- 
cial Lawyer,  should  be  the  last  to  countenance  any  de- 
gree of  speculation  entering  into  suit  fees. 

I  cannot  make  it  too  plain  that  suit  fees  are  never 
contingent  on  success.  No  lawyer  with  any  sense  of 
the  dignity  of  his  profession  should  engage  in  specula- 
tive litigation  unless  under  the  rarest  of  conditions  and 
under  terms  that  will  bear  judicial  scrutiny. 

The  minimum  fee  in  suit  ($7.50  plus  commissions) 
does  not  mean  that  whatever  the  amount  of  the  claim 
the  $7.50  is  fixed,  and  only  the  commissions  vary — that 
is  that  the  fee  on  $300  collected  by  suit  is  $52.50  ($7.50 
4-15%)  and  that  on  $200  it  is  $42.50  ($7.50-f  15%). 
The  schedule  means  that  these  fees  are  the  least  that  are 
allowable. 


AND    HIS    WORK  243 

Meaning  of  "Minimum." 

Many  fail  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  word 
"minimum"  as  applied  to  fees.  It  means  literally  and 
is  generally  understood  to  mean  "least."  So  that  where 
a  fee  is  fixed  as  a  minimum  fee  it  is  meant  that  no  fee 
less  than  the  one  stated  shall  be  charged.  The  League's 
schedule  of  fees  on  collections  without  suit  were  form- 
erly declared  to  be  "minimum  fees."  The  fallacy  of 
this  became  evident  in  time  and  the  word  "minimum" 
was  changed  to  "uniform."  But  the  word  is  still  used 
in  connection  with  the  suit  fee,  so  that  one  adopting  the 
schedule  is  saying  he  will  not  charge  less  than  $7.50 
plus  commissions  on  a  suit,  but  he  is  not  agreeing  not 
to  charge  more.  This  should  be  changed  so  that  the 
word  "minimum"  can  be  dropped  entirely.  The  League 
is  trying  to  bring  about  uniformity  of  rate.  This  can 
never  come  so  long  as  any  of  the  items  are  declared 
merely  to  be  minimum. 

If  a  small  matter  is  sent  for  suit  "on  League  terms," 
there  is  a  wide  open  door  to  controversy  over  the  fee, 
as  the  lawyer  may  reasonably  claim  he  has  agreed  only 
as  to  what  his  minimum  or  least  charge  shall  be,  while 
the  client  may  with  a  show  of  reason  claim  that  the  in- 
tention was  to  name  a  fee  for  small  claims  that  should 
be  fixed  and  not  variable. 

Instead  of  the  word  "minimum"  in  connection  with 
suit  fee,  the  League  should  leave  all  suit  fees  to  the 
agreement  of  the  parties,  excepting  on  matters  of  small 
amount  (say  under  $100  or  under  $50),  where  not  the 
lowest  limit  of  fees  should  be  stated,  but  a  certain  fixed 
fee  should  be  provided  which  should  govern  in  the  ab- 
sence of  agreement  and  be  free  from  the  element  of  con- 
tingency on  the  result.  Not  until  this  is  done  will  the 
League's  schedule  or  any  schedule  for  suits  be  thorough- 
ly ethical,  legal  and  uniform. 

"The  word  "minimum"  should  be  taken  out  of  the 
League's  schedule  of  fees  as  applied  to  collections  with- 


244  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

out  suit  where  it  reads  "minimum  fee  $5.00."  This  is  not 
the  meaning  intended.  It  is  meant  that  the  fees  shall  be 
15%  per  cent  on  all  amounts  under  $300,  but  that 
where  the  amount  collected  is  so  small  that  the  fee 
(at  15%)  runs  under  $5.00,  a  new  rule  shall  apply,  that 
is  the  fee  shall,  from  that  amount  collected  down,  be 
$5.00,  with  a  further  provision  that  the  fee  shall  never 
be  more  than  one-half  the  claim.  In  other  w^ords,  the 
schedule  was  intended  to  mean,  but  does  not  so  read, 
on  amounts  from  $300  down  to  $33.33,  15% ;  on  amounts 
from  $33.33  down  to  $10,  $5.00;  on  amounts  from  $10 
down,  50%.  Only  by  a  schedule  of  this  sort  can  uni- 
formity be  obtained  and  all  question  as  to  the  meaning 
of  "minimum"  be  settled. 

In  the  same  way  should  a  limit  be  placed  on  the 
amount  of  the  collection  by  suit  to  which  the  $7.50  plus 
commissions  should  apply. 

These  changes  can  be  made  without  disturbing  ex- 
isting legislation,  and  make  plain  and  certain  what  is 
now  obscure  and  in  many  minds  uncertain.  The  word 
"minimum"  should  be  banished  from  the  schedules  en- 
tirely. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  contingent  fee  principle 
or  practice  is  an  anomaly  in  a  lawyer's  work  and  really 
contrary  to  ethical  rules,  if  not  illegal  in  the  strictest 
sense,  it  should  be  limited  in  its  application,  and  where- 
ever  there  is  a  question  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  should 
always  be  given  to  the  lawyer. 

This  rule  should  be  applied  not  only  in  cases  that 
are  not  "collections"  in  the  real  sense  of  the  word,  but 
to  all  cases  where  the  lawyer  does  any  service  by  order 
of  the  client  which  does  not  result  in  his  getting  the  re- 
sults.    The  following  are  instances: 

Fee  Where  Client  Prevents  Collection. 

Where  a  claim  is  sent  by  a  client  for  collection  on  the 
usual  contingent  arrangement,  cither  express  or  implied, 


AND    HIS    WORK  245 

and  the  lawyer  does  work  on  it,  he  earns  a  fee,  if  by  the 
client's  fault  or  mistake,  the  lawyer  is  unable  to  ac- 
complish results. 

The  contingent  fee  proposition  presupposes  that 
there  is  something  to  be  done  by  the  doing  of  which 
successfully  the  lawyer  is  entitled  to  a  fee.  If  there  is 
in  fact  nothing  to  be  done  the  contingency  ceases  to 
operate.  The  lawyer  is  then  entitled  to  reasonable  com- 
pensation for  his  time  and  effort. 

Fees  on  Matters  Settled  Direct. 

If  a  client  or  forwarder  sends  a  claim  to  an  attorney 
that  has  been  paid  before  it  was  sent,  and  if,  before 
the  lawyer  has  done  any  work  on  it  he  is  notified  of  the 
fact  that  the  matter  was  sent  by  mistake,  the  lawyer  is 
entitled  to  no  fee,  as  he  has  done  no  work. 

If,  under  like  circumstances,  the  lawyer  has  received 
the  claim,  entered  it  in  his  books,  notified  or  seen  the 
debtor  personally  or  by  representative,  and  reported  re- 
sults, the  lawyer  is  entitled  to  a  fee  commensurate  with 
his  work.  If  he  has  only  recorded  the  claim  his  fee 
must  be  nominal ;  if  he  has  notified  the  debtor  it  may  be 
slightly  more ;  if  he  has  taken  time  and  spent  money  to 
personally  interview  the  debtor  it  may  be  still  more. 
The  amount  of  the  fee  must  depend  not  on  the  results 
accomplished,  for  none  can  be  accomplished,  but  on  the 
work  done,  which  may  be  worth  one  dollar  or  one  hun- 
dred dollars. 

The  schedule  of  fees  on  collections  in  such  cases  does 
not  apply,  as  no  collection  is  made.  It  is  the  quantum 
meruit  that  governs. 

If  after  the  claim  is  sent  to  the  attorney  and  before 
it  reaches  him  the  claim  is  paid,  the  same  rule  applies. 

If  the  claim  has  been  paid  to  a  forwarder  before  the 
lawyer  receives  it  from  the  forwarder  and  the  forwarder 
has  not  reported  payment  to  the  client,  the  client  and 


246  THE   COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

forwarder  alike  are  liable  for  the  lawyer's  fee.  The 
lawyer  should  first  hold  the  forwarder  and  if  unable  to 
collect  his  fee  should  proceed  against  the  forwarder's 
principal,  the  client. 

If  a  claim  is  paid  direct  to  forwarder  or  client  after 
demand  made  by  the  lawyer,  the  latter  is  entitled  to  his 
fee  the  same  as  if  he  had  actually  received  and  forward- 
ed the  money. 

If  a  part  of  the  claim  is  paid  direct,  as  stated  in  the 
last  paragraph,  and  the  client  accepts  a  promise  secured 
or  otherwise  as  to  the  balance,  the  lawyer  is  entitled  to 
full  fee  on  the  entire  amount,  provided  the  matter  is 
taken  out  of  his  hands;  if  it  is  not,  he  is  entitled  at  once 
to  the  fee  on  the  amount  paid,  and  to  a  future  fee  con- 
tingent on  the  promise  as  to  the  remainder  of  the  claim 
being  kept. 

Effect  on  Fee  Where  Matter  Is  Withdrawn. 

A  client  or  forwarder  may,  as  a  general  rule,  change 
lawyers  or  withdraw  a  claim  at  any  time,  but  a  matter 
sent  on  a  contingent  basis  to  a  lawyer  gives  him  such 
an  interest  in  the  subject  matter  that  where  he  has  done 
any  work  he  is  entitled,  on  the  withdrawal  of  the  claim, 
to  reasonable  compensation  for  work  done. 

Fee  Where  Property  Is  Recovered  and  Not  Money. 

The  ordinary  collection  sent  on  the  contingent  basis 
means  an  employment  to  collect  money.  The  fee 
schedules  assume  that  a  money  collection  is  intended. 
Where  merchandise  or  something  other  than  money  is 
taken  in  part  or  whole  payment  the  amount  of  the  fee 
is  not  to  be  determined  by  the  ordinary  schedule,  but 
by  the  usual  method — the  value  of  the  service  to  the 
client  and  the  worth  to  the  lawyer  of  his  time  and  effort. 
For  instance,  if  a  claim  for  $50  for  a  farm  implement  is 
settled  by  the  lawyer  with  the  client's  consent  by  taking 
back  the  machine  sold,  the  client  gets  but  a  part  of  his 
$50.     The  machine  may  be  worth  to  him  but  $20.     The 


AND   HIS   WORK  247 

lawyer  has  not  made  a  money  collection,  which  if  made 
would  have  entitled  him  to  15%,  or  $7.50.  He  has  taken 
property  that  has  profited  his  client  $20.  Shall  he 
charge  the  $5.00  allowed  on  a  $20  collection  by  the  ap- 
proved schedules?  I  think  not.  Nor  should  he  charge 
on  the  basis  of  $50  collected.  He  should  charge  in 
proportion  to  his  effort,  having  in  mind  what  his  client 
gets  out  of  the  transaction,  and  this  charge  may  be  $1.00 
or  $10.00,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
It  is  not  a  money  collection  and  must  not  be  governed 
by  ordinary  fee  schedules. 

A  part  money  and  part  merchandise  or  property  col- 
collection  should  be  viewed  as  a  whole  in  determining 
the  fee,  according  to  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  fore- 
going paragraph. 

Fees  on  Instalments  Collected. 

The  fee  on  a  collection  by  instalments  is  exactly  the 
same  as  if  the  whole  amount  of  the  claim  were  collected 
at  one  time.  The  fee  on  $50  collected  at  one  time 
should  be  15%  or  $7.50.  If  collected  by  instalments  of 
$10.00  each,  running  over  considerable  time,  it  should  be 
$7.50.  Any  other  rule  would  encourage  the  collection 
of  claims  in  small  amounts  at  intervals. 

When  a  claim  proves  unusually  difficult  and  must 
be  collected  in  instalments  the  lawyer  should  at  once 
notify  the  client  of  the  situation  and  obtain  a  better  fee 
arrangement.  It  is  too  late  to  do  so  after  the  matter  is 
closed  up.  Nine  times  out  of  ten  the  client  sees  the 
reasonableness  of  the  advance  request  and  grants  it. 

The  so-called  "minimum"  fee  does  not  apply  to  each 
instalment  in  the  collection  of  small  amounts. 

In  remitting  an  instalment,  in  the  absence  of  special 
fee  arrangements,  keep  that  proportion  of  the  whole  fee 
that  would  be  earned  if  the  whole  claim  were  collected 
that  the  amount  collected  bears  to  the  whole  claim.  Il- 
lustration:  If  the  claim  is  $100  and  $10.00  is  collected. 


248  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

remit  the  $10.00  less  $1.50,  which  is  one-tenth  of  the  fee 
that  would  have  been  earned  if  $100  had  been  collected 
at  once.     This,  in  the  absence  of  special  agreement. 

The  time  to  get  an  unusual  fee  arrangement  is  be- 
fore it  is  earned  not  after. 

Lawyer's  Right  to  "Expenses." 

The  lawyer  is  not  entitled  to  any  expenses  in  mak- 
ing a  collection,  unless  he  is  ordered  or  directed  to  do  a 
thing  in  a  way  that  necessarily  and  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  client  entails  an  expense,  or  unless  he  has  the  cli- 
ent's express  permission  to  make  the  expense. 

If  a  client  knows  the  debtor  lives  at  a  distance  from 
the  lawyer  and  a  personal  presentment  of  the  matter  is 
ordered  the  client  is  assumed  to  have  authorized  the 
expense.  But  the  mere  sending  of  business  to  an  at- 
torney in  one  locality  against  a  debtor  in  another  does 
not  warrant  the  attorney  making  expense  to  the  client. 
If  he  does  not  desire  to  do  so  at  his  own  risk  he  must 
get  the  client's  authorization. 

Fee  on  Employment  to  Take  Property,  Etc. 

Employment  to  take  possession  of  property  or  to  do 
any  act  other  than  collect  money  is  not  a  money  collec- 
tion governed  by  the  contingent  fee  rule  and  fee  sched- 
ules, and  any  such  work  done,  whether  successful  or 
not,  should  be  paid  for. 

Fee  Where  Lawyer's  Name  Is  Used. 

Any  use  of  a  lawyer's  name  in  making  a  collection 
or  settlement  of  any  sort  between  a  client  or  forwarder 
and  a  debtor  entitles  the  lawyer  to  a  fee. 

This  applies  to  bank  drafts.  If  a  client  or  forwarder 
draws  on  a  debtor  and  advises  him  that  if  he  does  not 
pay  the  draft  the  matter  will  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
a  lawyer  named  for  collection,  that  lawyer  is  entitled  to 
the  schedule  fee,  since  his  name,  reputation  and  influ- 
ence were  used  without  his  consent  in  making  the  col- 
lection. 


AND    HIS    WORK  249 

It  matters  not  how  the  fact  of  the  lawyer's  proposed 
connection  with  the  matter  is  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  debtor,  whether  by  direct  notice  to  the  debtor, 
by  copy  of  the  draft,  by  copy  of  proposed  letter  to  the 
lawyer,  by  copy  of  instructions  to  bank,  or,  what  is 
usual,  by  coupon  notice  attached  to  the  draft  itself. 
Any  use  of  the  lawyer's  name  unauthorized  in  the  par- 
ticular case  and  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  debtor 
entitles  the  lawyer  to  his  fee. 

In  such  a  case  the  remedy  is  one  or  more  of  the  fol- 
lowing courses :  A  notice  to  the  debtor  requiring  him 
not  to  pay  the  claim  save  through  the  lawyer's  hands, 
which  will  usually  cause  him  to  hesitate  to  pay  the 
draft;  a  bill  to  the  forwarder  or  the  forwarder's  client 
for  the  fee;  a  notice  to  the  secretary  of  the  Commercial 
Law  League  of  America  of  the  facts  in  the  case;  an  ar- 
rangement with  the  bank  or  banks  of  the  town  for 
prompt  notice  of  such  drafts  on  their  receipt  and  the 
immediate  notification  of  the  debtor  that  the  draft  must 
be  paid  through  the  attorney.  Usually  the  bank  will 
see  the  justice  of  the  lawyer's  position  and  co-operate 
with  him.  These  proceedings  are  each  and  all  justified 
by  the  unwarranted  use  of  an  attorney's  name  in  the 
forcing  of  a  collection. 

A  law  list  encouraging  or  itself  selling  or  giving 
away  blank  drafts  and  letters  of  demand  and  instruc- 
tions to  banks  carrying  this  feature  should  be  black- 
listed. 

Effect  on  Right  to  Fee  When  Claim  Not 
Acknowledged. 

The  fact  that  a  lawyer  does  not  promptly  acknowl- 
edge a  claim  received  does  not  affect  his  right  to  a  fee 
where  he  has  proceeded  to  do  the  work  he  is  directed 
to  do. 

If  in  the  forwarding  blank  the  receiver  is  told  that 
failure  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  claim  will  disqualify 


250  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

him  from  receiving  a  fee  in  case  of  payment  direct,  the 
receiver  is  bound. 

Importance  of  "Forwarding  Form." 

The  forwarding  form,  unobjected  to,  is  a  contract 
betw^een  the  parties.  It  cannot  be  disregarded  in  the 
settlement.  Of  late  years  these  forms  have  become  ex- 
ceeding burdensome  in  their  requirements.  In  some 
cases  lawyers  cannot  accept  them  and  keep  their  self- 
respect.  They  take  employment  under  them  at  their 
own  risk.  The  only  safe  way  is  to  read  them  and  reject 
the  business  if  the  terms  offered  are  unsatisfactory 
One-half  of  the  controversies  arising  grow  out  of  a 
failure  on  the  part  of  receiving  attorneys  to  read  their 
instructions. 

A  lawyer  receiving  directions  as  to  work  and  ob- 
jecting thereto  should  do  nothing  toward  carrying  out 
instructions  until  he  has  made  satisfactory  arrange- 
ments with  the  forwarder  or  client.  To  protest  and  at 
the  same  time  proceed  to  do  the  work  is  to  waive  ob- 
jections. For  instance:  A  sends  B  a  claim  on  an  unsat- 
isfactory fee.  B  protests  and  demands  a  better  fee, 
but,  before  hearing  from  A,  proceeds  to  do  the  work. 
B  makes  no  answer  to  the  protest.  B  must  stand  by 
A's  offer.  The  only  course  is  to  withhold  action  until 
a  satisfactory  arrangement  is  made.  This  course  should 
be  followed  in  all  cases  where  the  forwarding  letter  is 
unsatisfactory  to  the  receiver.  General  conformity  to 
this  course  would  soon  bring  about  a  forwarding  form 
generally  acceptable. 

Effect  of  Objecting  to  Forwarding  Instructions. 

When  the  forwarder  or  client  sends  directions  or 
instructions  and  the  receiver,  dissatisfied,  sends  his  own 
form  of  receipt  containing  terms  modifying  those  of  the 
forwarder  or  client  and  proceeds  to  do  the  work,  he  is 
acting  under  the  forwarder's  orders  and  under  his 
terms.     In  every  case  where  dissatisfied  he  should  in- 


AND   HIS   WORK  251 

dicate  to  his  client  by  letter  (telegram  or  telephone  if 
urgent)  his  unwillingness  to  abide  by  the  terms  offered 
and  await  instructions.  Hundreds  of  controversies, 
peeved  forwarders  and  clients,  and  disgruntled  attorneys 
would  disappear  were  the  rule  to  prevail. 

Changing  Lawyers.    Employing  More  than 
One  Lawyer. 

Negligence  or  incapacity  on  the  part  of  the  lawyer 
will  excuse  a  client  in  a  commercial  matter  for  chang- 
ing attorneys,  but  in  a  matter  where  the  fee  is  contin- 
gent the  attorney  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

Under  no  circumstances  may  the  client  or  forwarder 
send  a  matter  to  two  lawyers  at  the  same  time,  nor  to 
a  second  lawyer  while  it  is  in  the  hands  of  the  first  with- 
out due  notice  to  the  first.  Such  a  procedure  entitles 
both  lawyers  to  a  fee. 

A  sends  B  business.  B  fails  to  acknowledge  receipt 
of  it,  but  proceeds  to  do  the  work.  A,  receiving  no  re- 
ceipt, sends  the  same  business  to  C,  failing  to  notify  B, 
B's  failure  to  acknowledge  receipt  (which  may  be  an 
apparent  failure  only),  does  not  justify  A  in  sending  the 
business  to  C  without  notifying  B  and  giving  him  a 
reasonable  opportunity  to  give  an  explanation. 

Division  of  Fees. 

The  well-nigh  universal  custom  has  prevailed  for 
years  of  making  a  division  of  fees  between  forwarder 
and  receiver,  on  the  theory  that  the  forwarder  has 
earned  a  share  of  the  fees  by  his  being  employed  to 
handle  the  matter  in  the  first  place,  by  his  assuming  the 
responsibility  of  following  it  to  an  issue  and  by  his  as- 
sisting the  receiver  in  every  way  possible  in  making  the 
collection.  The  propriety  of  dividing  fees  between  for- 
warder and  receiver  has  not  been  seriously  questioned 
until  in  very  recent  years,  when  by  reason  of  some  leg- 
islation and  some  decisions  doubt  has  been  thrown  on 
the  ethical  character  of  the  proceeding. 


252  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

There  has  always  been  a  question  whether  even  in  a 
law  suit  there  should  be  a  division  of  fee  between  a  law- 
yer forwarder  and  a  lawyer  receiver,  much  less  in  the 
case  of  a  simple  collection. 

As  between  layman  and  lawyer  there  is  no  question 
of  the  impropriety  of  a  division  in  the  mind  of  the  ultra- 
ethical  members  of  the  profession,  and  this  voices  itself 
in  legislation  and  decision  in  several  states. 

The  custom  is,  however,  still  well  nigh  general  of 
dividing  both  suit  fees  and  collection  commissions  be- 
tween laymen  and  lawyers.  The  division  is  invaria- 
bly asked  by  the  forwarder  and,  excepting  in  the  few 
states  where  it  has  been  frowned  on  by  legislature  and 
courts,  it  is  invariably  granted. 

It  would  be  folly  for  me  to  prophesy  as  to  the  out- 
come. With  laymen  coming  dangerously  near  monop- 
olizing the  first-hand  handling  of  commercial  law  and 
collection  matters  it  would  seem  that  some  bending  of 
strictly  ethical  rules  will  have  to  be  permitted  if  lawyers 
are  not  to  lose  the  commercial  business  entirely. 

"Net  Fee"  Plan. 

A  subterfuge  has  been  resorted  to  by  forwarders  in 
the  sending  of  their  business  to  receiving  attorneys  by 
which  they  hope  to  escape  the  operation  of  the  rule 
against  the  division  of  fees.  This  consists  in  the  send- 
ing of  the  business  at  a  fee  net  to  the  attorney,  no  di- 
vision being  asked.  The  net  fee  offered  is  in  every  case 
just  what  the  attorney  would  receive  were  the  business 
to  be  sent  under  the  old  plan  with  a  one-third  back  to 
the  forwarder.  Any  one  with  half  an  eye  can  see  the 
purpose.  The  question  arises  as  to  whether  this  device 
will  satisfy  the  law. 

It  is  plain  that  an  agency  may  make  a  charge  for  its 
services  in  a  matter  and  submit  to  its  client  a  separate 
charge  for  its  lawyer  correspondent.  Each  in  fact  is 
entitled  to  a  fee.  We  doubt,  however,  whether  any  of 
the  forwarders  thus  using  the  net  fee  plan  actually  bill 


AND    HIS    WORK  253 

separate  fee  charges  to  their  clients.  The  clients  know 
no  difference  between  the  old  and  the  new  way,  since  the 
only  difference  is  that  the  receiving  attorney's  two- 
thirds  is  given  the  name  "net  fee."  The  amount  of  the 
fee  is  exactly  the  same.  The  forwarder's  case  would  be 
strengthened  were  he  to  bill  his  own  and  his  attorney's 
fees  as  separate  items.  I  believe  the  net  fee  plan  will 
become  universal,  in  which  case  fee  schedules  will  have 
to  be  amended,  as  they  have  been  built  largely  on  the 
idea  that  the  lawyer  must  divide  his  fees. 

Basis  of  Division. 

The  long  recognized  basis  for  division  of  fees  has 
been  one-third  to  forwarder  and  two-thirds  to  receiver. 
Attempts  have  been  made  of  recent  years  to  cut  the  law- 
yer's share  to  one-half.  The  50-50  division,  however, 
is  universally  condemned  as  unfair.  No  lawyer  with 
any  regard  for  his  rights  will  accept  business  on  such 
a  division  arrangement. 

The  provision  that  in  case  of  payment  direct  between 
debtor  and  client  the  attorney  shall  receive  from  the 
forwarder  in  the  case  but  one-half  the  fee  is  unfair. 
The  plea  of  the  forwarder  is  that  he  is  put  to  the  trouble 
of  collecting  the  fee  and  hence  he  should  have  more  than 
one-third.  The  reason  is  trivial.  The  lawyer  has 
earned  his  fee  and  the  forwarder  is  responsible  for  it. 
Then  why  should  the  lawyer  pay  the  forwarder  for  col- 
lecting a  fee,  a  portion  of  which  the  forwarder  himself 
is  to  receive  and  for  the  receiver's  part  of  which  he 
(the  forwarder  himself)  is  responsible?  Items  for- 
warded on  these  terms  should  be  returned  with  thanks. 

Forwarder  Liable  for  Fee. 

The  receiving  attorney  is  entitled  to  demand  from 
the  forwarder  fees  on  matters  sent  him,  whether  or  not 
the  forwarder  collects  the  fees  from  the  client.  The  re- 
ceiver is  not  in  duty  bound  to  wait  till  the  forwarder 
collects  from  the  client. 


254  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Dividing  Fees  with  Clients.     House  Agencies. 

A  fee  should  never  be  divided  with  the  client.  This 
looks  like  a  waste  of  words,  but  it  isn't.  Lawyers  are 
doing  it  to  the  extent  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars annually,  but  they  are  doing  it  unwittingly  in  large 
measure. 

Business  received  from  agencies  and  individuals, 
particularly  lay  individuals,  should  be  scrutinized  with 
great  care,  as  in  a  very  large  proportion  of  cases  the 
individuals  or  agencies  are  but  employes  of  clients, 
using  an  agency  or  attorney  name  to  mask  their  real 
business.  Some  of  the  biggest  business  concerns  in  the 
country  employ  an  agency  name  in  their  bookkeeping 
and  collecting  departments,  and  by  sending  out  their 
business  under  that  name  they  get  from  the  receiving 
lawyers  one-third  of  their  fees,  which  in  many  cases  cov- 
ers the  entire  expense  of  these  departments. 

You  would  not  pay  your  client's  bookkeeper  one- 
third  of  your  fees.  But  you  would,  if  that  bookkeeper 
masquerades  as  the  International  Law  and  Collection 
agency,  unhesitatingly  hand  over  the  one-third. 

This  abuse  is  not  confined  to  laymen.  Lawyers  are 
employed  by  large  houses  on  salaries  and  given  office 
room  and  clerical  assistants.  They  are  strictly  employes 
of  the  house.  They  are  not  entitled  to  a  division  of 
fees.  Frequently  such  attorney  receive  more  by  way 
of  the  rebated  one-third  than  the  expenses  of  the  de- 
partment, and  the  client  has  his  collection  work  done 
for  nothing  or  at  an  actual  profit. 

The  theory  on  which  a  division  of  fees  is  based  is 
that  the  agency  or  lawyer  sending  the  business  is  an 
independent  middleman  conducting  an  office  of  his  own, 
incurring  the  expense  of  soliciting  and  distributing  bus- 
iness and  depending  for  his  maintenance  on  the  fees 
received  directly  or  indirectly  for  his  work.  He  is  a 
producer  working  in   the  interests  of  a  large  constitu- 


AND    HIS    WORK  255 

ency  and  in  a  way  doing  for  the  lawyer  what  the  lawyer 
cannot  do  for  himself.  A  house  attorney  or  agency  does 
not  stand  in  any  such  relation. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  publishes 
for  the  use  of  its  members  a  list  of  these  house  agencies, 
which  is  being  added  to  daily.  Lawyers  not  in  the 
League  should  make  agency  and  attorney  forwarders 
give  evidence  of  their  right  to  a  portion  of  the  fees 
earned.  It  should  in  no  case  be  assumed  that  because 
an  agency  name  is  used  the  agency  is  a  legitimate  one 
and  entitled  to  recognition  as  such. 

Here  are  some  marks  of  illegitimacy :  No  individual 
names  on  the  stationery.  No  street  address.  A  post- 
office  box  address  only.  An  address  the  same  as  that 
of  the  client.  Often,  however,  the  house  will  give  street 
numbers  on  one  street  and  the  agency  will  give  an  ad- 
dress answering  to  a  door  into  the  building  on  a  side  or 
back  street.  The  same  handwriting  on  the  house  and 
the  agency  stationery.  The  same  typewriter  used  on 
the  agency  communications  and  the  statement  of  ac- 
count sent.  The  allowance  of  fifty  per  cent  or  other 
large  fee.  A  check  for  costs  payable  direct  to  the  at- 
torney from  the  house,  sent  through  the  "agency"  or 
direct.  And  there  are  other  signs  the  careful  lawyer 
will  detect. 

Fees  Where  Payment  by  Debtor  Was  Made  to 
Prior  Attorney. 
Where  a  claim  is  sent  to  a  second  attorney  and, 
whether  it  be  withdrawn  from  the  first  or  not,  the  debtor 
pays  the  first  attorney  before  or  after  the  second  attor- 
ney starts  work  on  it,  the  second  attorney  is  entitled  to 
his  fee.  As  to  whether  the  first  is  entitled  to  a  fee  or 
not  depends  on  circumstances.  If  prior  to  collecting 
the  claim  he  has  been  rightly  dismissed  he  is  not  entitled 
to  a  fee.  If  wrongfully  dismissed  he  is  entitled  to  it. 
If  he  has  collected  and  retained  money  for  an  unreason- 


256  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

able  time  he  has  forfeited  his  right  to  compensation,  or 
in  the  event  it  is  allowed  he  is  liable  for  legal  interest 
on  the  amount  so  retained  for  the  time  he  has  had  it. 

"Costs,"  "Expenses/'  "Fees,"  "Retainer." 

"Costs,"  expenses,"  "fees"  and  "retainer"  are  terms 
often  used  carelessly.  Each  has  its  individual  meaning 
as  used  in  the  commercial  law  and  collection  world. 

"Costs"  include  only  expenditures  proper  in  court 
proceedings.  They  never  include  fees.  "Costs"  are 
cash  outlay  or  liability  of  the  client  to  other  than  the 
lawyer.  They  are  his  to  pay  in  the  event  the  law  does 
not  collect  them  from  the  defendant.  The  word  has  no 
meaning  in  connection  with  collections  without  suit. 

"Expenses"  include  only  money  paid  out  or  liability 
for  debt  incurred  incidentally  in  a  suit,  for  which  the 
defendant  is  not  liable,  and  in  the  case  of  a  collection 
without  suit,  where  the  term  is  usually  applied,  it  in- 
cludes money  paid  or  debts  incurred  in  the  effort  to 
reach  the  debtor  and  bring  a  settlement. 

"Fees"  are  compensation  freed  from  expenses  and 
costs.  It  includes  only  the  net  return  to  the  lawyer  for 
his  services. 

A  "retainer"  is  a  payment  of  fee  or  on  account  of  fee 
in  advance.  It  does  not  include  costs  or  expenses, 
though  the  lawyer  may,  by  agreement  or  without  agree- 
ment, pay  advanced  costs  and  expenses  out  of  his  re- 
tainer. He  is  not  in  duty  bound  to  do  so.  "Retainer" 
means  fee  only,  unless  specified  to  include  something 
else. 

When  a  lawyer  receiver  or  forwarder  asks  for  $10.00 
for  "costs"  it  can  properly  mean  only  that  the  money  is 
asked  for  a  fund  to  be  held  in  trust  out  of  which  to  pay 
costs  as  they  accrue  and  to  be  accounted  for  on  the  final 
settlement,  as  belonging  to  the  client. 

The  practice  of  asking  for  a  certain  sum  in  advance 
for  costs  with  a  view  of  retaining  a  portion  as  fee  is 
wrong  and  not  worthy  of  the  lawyer.     This  is  a  very 


AND    HIS    WORK  257 

general  practice  and  has  injured  the  profession,  in 
that  clients  have  come  to  know  and  understand  the  de- 
ception— for  such  it  is.  Were  the  advance  to  be  known 
as  a  "retainer"  with  the  understanding  that  a  portion  of 
it  was  to  be  applied  by  the  lawyer  to  costs  as  they  ac- 
crue and  the  balance  applied  in  full  or  part  settlement 
of  fee,  well  and  good,  but  to  ask  for  costs  and  use 
the  fund  without  permission  partly  in  payment  of  fee  is 
bad  practice. 

The  practice  prevails  in  some  cities  of  asking  by  way 
of  costs  and  expenses  a  certain  sum  with  the  well  un- 
derstood purpose  to  apply  the  unused  portion  as  com- 
pensation, in  case  of  failure  to  collect.  I  doubt  very 
much  whether  this  can  square  with  rules  of  fairness. 
If  the  client  understands  the  arrangement,  very  well. 
If  he  does  not,  not  so  well.  If  the  small  portion  left 
from  the  fund  is  a  fee  it  is  usually  a  grossly  inadequate 
fee  in  a  court  matter.  If  the  lawyer  is  entitled  to  any 
fee  he  is  entitled  to  a  fair  fee  and  should  not  collect  the 
few  dollars  by  underhand  method. 

The  practice  of  forwarders  asking  their  clients  for 
a  certain  sum  for  costs  and  sending  a  portion  of  this 
sum  to  the  receiving  attorneys,  who  alone  have  costs  to 
pay,  and  retaining  a  portion  in  their  own  hands,  is  but 
another  form  of  working  clients  for  a  fee  under  the  guise 
of  costs.  Here  the  forwarder  and  the  receiver  may 
both  get  a  few  dollars  each  by  way  of  fee  unknown  to 
clients  who  have  charged  the  expenditure  up  to  court 
costs  and,  not  being  billed  for  a  fee,  think  they  are  pay- 
ing none. 

This  unsatisfactory  sort  of  practice  arises  from  the 
application  of  the  contingent  feature  to  court  business. 
Lawyers,  bending  to  the  insidious  workings  of  the  con- 
tingent fee  idea,  are  putting  claims  in  judgment  nomi- 
nally on  the  contingent  basis,  but,  in  order  to  take  off 
the  curse  and  ease  their  consciences,  are  making  matters 
worse  by  attempting  to  conceal  the  fee  under  the  term 
"costs." 


258  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

I  must  repeat  that  the  client  world  should  be  edu- 
cated by  forwarder  and  receiver  to  know  that  a  real 
lawyer  cannot  do  court  work  on  a  contingent  fee;  that 
it  is  contrary  to  his  professional  standards  of  conduct 
and  is  essentially  illegal  as  encouraging  litigation  and 
speculating  in  it.  It  may  be  worth  but  a  few  dollars  to 
put  an  uncontested  claim  in  judgment  in  an  inferior 
court.  If  so,  make  a  nominal  fee  charge.  Ask  for  five 
dollars  or  ten  dollars  with  the  understanding  all  around 
that  it  is  to  cover  costs  and  a  nominal  fee  in  case  of  fail- 
ure to  realize  on  the  judgment,  and  not  ask  for  five  or 
ten  dollars  for  costs,  pay  out  a  few  dollars  to  court  offi- 
cials and  pocket  the  balance.  The  whole  proceeding  is 
unworthy  the  high  toned  lawyer. 

Application  of  League  Fee  Schedule. 

According  to  the  C.  L.  L.  A.  schedule,  the  lowest  fee 
chargeable  on  items  under  $33.33  is  $5.00,  excepting  for 
items  under  $10.00,  when  the  fee  is  one-half  the  claim. 
These  are  the  generally  accepted  rates.  Where  a  claim 
under  $33.33  is  part  paid  and  the  remainder  is  uncollect- 
able  it  is  not  proper  to  charge  the  $5.00  fee,  but  only 
such  proportion  of  the  $5.00  as  the  amount  collected 
bears  to  the  total  amount  of  the  claim.  For  illustration : 
A  claim  for  $20.00  is  sent  for  collection.  The  fee  on 
$20.00  collected  is  $5.00.  Suppose  $12.00  is  collected 
and  the  remainder  cannot  be  collected.  The  attorney 
is  not  justified  in  retaining  $5.00  out  of  the  $12.00,  giv- 
ing as  a  reason  that  the  so-called  minimum  fee  is  $5.00. 
The  $5.00  fee  rates  is  allowed  with  the  understanding 
that  the  entire  matter  is  disposed  of.  The  fee  on  the 
$8.00  should  be  twelve  twentieths  of  $5.00,  or  $3.00. 

Where  such  a  claim  as  described  in  the  foregoing  is 
compromised — that  is,  settled  in  full  by  agreement  be- 
tween the  parties,  at  a  figure  less  than  its  face — the  full 
$5.00  is  ^rned.  In  the  case  illustrated,  if  $12.00  is  ac- 
cepted in  full  settlement,  the  fee  is  $5.00. 


AND    HIS    WORK  259 

Best  Course  When  Receiving  Business  on 
Unsatisfactory  Terms. 

If  a  claim  is  received  on  terms  unsatisfactory  to  the 
Receiver,  the  better  course  is  to  hold  the  claim,  notify 
the  Forwarder  and  do  nothing  with  it,  pending  further 
directions.  This  is  better  than  returning  the  matter,  for 
several  reasons. 

First — If  the  claim  is  returned,  the  Forwarder  is 
likely  to  send  it  elsewhere.  If  it  is  held,  the  Forwarder 
is  likely  to  vary  his  terms  to  suit  the  Receiver. 

Second — If  action  is  wanted  speedily  on  the  matter 
by  the  Forwarder  he  can  sooner  get  it  by  use  of  wire  or 
telephone  if  it  is  in  the  hands  of  some  one  on  the  ground 
at  the  time  than  if  he  must  send  it  to  another  attorney. 

In  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  better  terms  can  be  had  for 
the  asking,  reasonable  grounds  for  the  request  being 
given.  Three  times  out  of  four  the  Forwarder  has  not 
given  the  Receiver  as  favorable  terms  at  the  outset  as 
his  agreement  with  the  client  would  have  justified  him 
in  doing,  so  that  a  request  for  better  terms  seldom  has 
to  be  submitted  by  Forwarders  to  clients.  Many  For- 
warders proceed  on  the  principle  of  "Get  all  you  can, 
give  all  you  must." 

Accounting  for  Interest. 

The  attorney  is  not  required  to  account  for  interest 
on  overdue  claims  sent  for  collection,  unless  specifically 
directed  to  collect  it.  While  interest  may  be  legally 
collectible,  it  is  not  customary  to  insist  on  it,  unless 
there  be  a  definite  provision  for  interest,  as  in  a  note. 
To  insist  on  interest  is  to  jeopardize  the  claim  in  so 
many  instances  that  clients  and  Forwarders  see  the  un- 
wisdom of  compelling  the  attorney  to  collect  it.  For 
this  reason  a  provision  in  printed  forwarding  forms  obli- 
gating the  Receiver  to  collect  interest  is  objectionable. 
Attorneys,  however,  should  not  disregard  instructions 
to  collect  interest. 


260  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Lawyer's  Right  to  Expenses  When  Working 
Away  from  Home. 

An  attorney  announcing,  through  legal  directories  or 
otherwise,  his  facilities  for  taking  care  of  business  in 
towns  other  than  his  home  town  should  not  expect 
"expenses"  in  connection  with  such  work,  excepting  by 
agreement  with  client  or  Forwarder. 

Deducting  in  Remittances  Charges  on 
Another  Matter. 
Costs,  expenses  or  fees  in  one  matter  should  not  be 
deducted  from  remittances  made  on  another  matter.  If 
there  is  doubt  as  to  the  good  faith  of  the  client,  advise 
him  you  have  money  in  hand  on  the  claim  collected  and 
ask  what  disposition  to  make  of  it  in  view  of  your  un- 
liquidated bill.  If  the  client  is  above  suspicion  you  will, 
of  course,  remit  promptly  and  bill  your  unpaid  charges 
separately. 

Going  Behind  the  Forwarder. 

It  must  be  a  rare  case  where  the  receiving  attorney 
has  to  go  behind  the  Forwarder  and  address  the  client 
direct.  The  only  excuse  for  it  is  the  persistent  neglect 
of  the  business  by  the  Forwarder,  or  his  manifest 
wrongdoing.  Even  then  the  client  should  not  be  ad- 
dressed until  after  the  Forwarder  is  advised  and  given 
an  opportunity  to  do  his  duty. 

Lawyer  Succeeding  Another  Bound  by 
Latter's  Agreements. 
A  receiving  attorney  succeeding  to  the  business  of 
a  fellow-attorney  is  bound  by  the  latter's  agreements, 
express  or  implied,  with  reference  to  such  business,  made 
with  forwarders  or  clients,  and  this  is  true  as  to  fees  and 
charges  generally. 

Lawyer  Employing  Another. 

A  recci\ing  attorney  should  not  employ  other  attor- 
neys to  do  work  entrusted  to  him  without  the  express 


AND    HIS    WORK  261 

or  implied  consent  of  Forwarder  or  client.  If  he  does 
so,  it  is  at  his  own  peril.  He  is  responsible  for  results. 
This  does  not  mean  that  in  an  office  employing  several, 
the  work  may  not  be  done  by  either  lawyer  or  lay  clerk 
other  than  the  person  actually  addressed  in  making  the 
employment.  The  work  done  by  the  office  will  be  as- 
sumed to  be  done  under  the  supervision  and  direction 
of  the  individual  employed. 

Division  of  Contingent  Fee  Presupposes  Fee  To 
Be  Whole  Fee  Allowed  by  Client. 

The  receiving  attorney,  in  the  absence  of  agreement 
to  the  contrary,  in  the  case  of  a  contingent  fee  matter, 
where  the  Forwarder  asks  for  a  rebating  of  one-third  of 
the  fee,  has  a  right  to  assume  that  the  fee  stated  is  the 
entire  fee  allowed  by  the  client.  For  instance :  A  For- 
warder receives  an  item  of  business  from  his  client  on 
a  25  per  cent  fee  arrangement.  He  sends  it  to  a  receiv- 
ing attorney  on  a  15  per  cent  basis  and  demands  one- 
third  of  the  fee.  The  demand  for  one-third  warrants 
the  Receiver  in  thinking  the  fee  named  is  the  entire 
fee  paid  by  the  client.  In  case  of  discovery  of  the  true 
state  of  affairs  the  Receiver  is  justified  in  keeping  two- 
thirds  of  the  entire  fee ;  in  the  illustration,  two-thirds  of 
25  per  cent.     See  discussion  of  this  on  another  page. 

If  the  Forwarder  demands  no  part  of  the  fee,  the 
Receiver  cannot  complain.  He  may  take  or  refuse  the 
business  offered.  If  he  takes  the  business  on  the  terms 
offered  (no  division),  and  afterwards  finds  the  client 
paid  the  Forwarder  more,  he  has  no  recourse  nor  cause 
for  objection. 

Manner  of  Accounting  for  Money. 

In  remitting,  the  full  amount  collected  should  be  ac- 
counted for,  together  with  all  money  advanced  by  the 
client  or  Forwarder  by  way  of  "costs"  and  "expenses." 
All  charges  should  be  itemized.     A  remittance  reading, 


262  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

"I  hand  you  check  for  $35,  being  $50  collected,  less  fee 
and  expenses,"  is  in  unsatisfactory  form.  The  follow- 
ing is  in  proper  form : 

Amount    of   collection $50.00 

Cash    advanced    5.00 

$55.00 

Fee  at  15  per  cent $7.50 

Expense :    Railroad  fare  and  ho- 
tel  authorized   3.25—     10.75 


$44.25 
The  most  common  and  exasperating  fault  with  re- 
mittances is  a  failure  to  account  for  money  advanced  for 
"costs"  or  "expenses,"  or  both.  Money  advanced  for 
these  purposes  belong  as  much  to  the  client  as  does  the 
money  owing  by  the  debtor,  and  it  should  be  strictly 
accounted  for,  either  in  the  way  of  money  refunded  or 
money  paid  out  as  authorized  expressly  or  impliedly. 
A  fine  piece  of  work  is  often  spoiled  and  its  good  effect 
on  the  client  nullified  by  an  unsatisfactory  report  of 
results. 

"No  fees  will  be  allowed  where  suit  is  brought  and 
the  money  is  not  collected,  unless  there  is  a  written 
agreement  to  the  contrary." 

Notice  the  words,  "where  the  money  is  not  collected." 
In  other  words,  this  forwarder  will  accept  the  results 
of  an  unauthorized  act  if  favorable  to  him ;  otherwise 
not. 

This  provision  would  deny  fees  to  an  attorney 
though  authorized  and  directed  to  sue,  should  he  fail  to 
collect,  for  there  must  be  an  agreement  as  to  fees  in 
order  to  claim  them. 

Under  this  provision  a  lawyer  would  be  foolish  to 
take  any  action  in  court,  no  matter  how  urgent  the  need 
of  it,  even  though  the  delay  killed  all  chances  of  getting 
the  money. 


AND    HIS    WORK  263 

A  more  reasonable  requirement  would  be :  "No  suit 
to  be  brought  without  instructions  and  fee  estimated  in 
advance,  save  in  emergency  cases  where  instructions  by 
wire  or  telephone  cannot  be  first  had. 

"Claims  must  be  presented  at  once  and  receipt  ac- 
knowledged, with  such  information  as  you  can  give." 

This  presumes  that  the  lawyer  has  nothing  else  to 
do  but  "present"  this  particular  claim.  To  follow  in- 
structions every  other  matter  must  wait.  If  away  from 
home  he  must  return  at  once.  If  in  court  he  must  ad- 
journ his  case.  If  in  conference  with  a  client  he  must 
dismiss  the  client.  His  not  to  reason  why,  his  but 
to  do  or  die. 

Better  this :  Acknowledge  receipt  and  present  claim 
with  reasonable  promptness,  sending  with  receipt  such 
report  as  is  available  at  the  time. 

"If  claim  is  settled  before  being  presented  by  you, 
no  commission  will  be  paid." 

Query:  Whot  is  the  meaning  of  "presented?" 
Must  there  be  an  actual,  physical,  personal  demand? 
There  are  scores  of  cases  where  this  provision  would 
work  an  injustice. 

Suppose  the  debtor  lives  out  of  town.  To  see  him 
costs  money.  There  is  no  provision  for  expenses.  Will 
a  written  demand  mailed  constitute  a  presentation?  Will 
a  telephone  message  or  a  telegram?  What  about  the 
lawyer's  time  in  acknowledging  receipt  and  entering  on 
his  books,  and  possibly  studying  the  case,  as  must  often 
be  done,  and  making  inquiries  perhaps  to  locate  the 
debtor?     Is  he  expected  to  donate  this? 

If  a  physician  is  called  in  a  case  and  on  calling  finds 
he  is  not  needed,  does  he  take  his  labor  for  his  pains? 

Suppose  before  sending  the  business  to  lawyer  A, 
the  forwarder  has  written  to  debtor  B  that  unless 
he  pays  he  will  employ  lawyer  A.  Debtor  B  is  slow  to 
respond,  but  he  gets  there  with  his  money  while  the 


264  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

claim  is  on  the  way  to  lawyer  A.  Lawyer  A  presents 
the  claim.  Debtor  B  shows  receipt.  Lawyer  A  gets 
no  fee.  Not  if  the  clause  we  are  talking  about  holds 
good.  And  this  thing  is  happening  hourly  in  the  col- 
lection world. 

Suppose  the  forwarder  or  the  owner  of  the  claim 
uses  one  of  the  usual  forms  of  draft  supplied  in  whole- 
sale lots  by  certain  publishers  and  agencies  at  a  little 
more  than  the  cost  of  white  paper,  in  which  lawyer  A's 
name  is  used  by  way  of  a  club,  and  debtor  B  pays  the 
draft  after  some  delay  or  pays  it  promptly,  and  the  bank 
delays  remitting,  and  in  the  meantime  the  claim  reaches 
A,  who  in  the  next  mail  is  told  to  stay  his  hand  as  the 
debtor  has  paid.  Is  lawyer  A  entitled  to  nothing  in  this 
transaction? 

My  position  is  that  the  contingent  fee  system  applies 
only  to  actual  claims.  If  there  is  no  claim,  if  lawyer  B 
is  employed  to  do  an  impossible  thing,  i.  e.,  collect  where 
there  is  no  claim,  he  is  entitled  to  a  fair  recompense  for 
what  he  has  done — not  a  commission  on  the  collection, 
for  there  is  no  collection,  but  a  fee  to  cover  his  outlay  of 
time  and  expense. 

I  believe  the  time  will  come  when  lawyers  will  de- 
mand that  on  matters  settled  prior  to  their  being 
employed  on  them  they  be  entitled  to  compensation 
commensurate  with  their  effort — small,  if  the  effort  was 
mere  acknowledgment  of  receipt,  docketing  and  notify- 
ing debtor;  large,  if  the  effort  meant  a  day's  journey,  or 
as  I  have  known  to  be  the  case,  the  reading  of  a  great 
grist  of  correspondence  and  a  study  of  the  case  before 
it  can  be  properly  presented. 

And  as  food  for  thought,  I  would  suggest  that  a  fee 
rate  be  established  for  all  pseudo  claims  at  say  three  or 
five  per  cent  without  division,  with  a  reasonable  mini- 
mum fee. 


AND    HIS    WORK  265 

If  such  a  plan  were  adopted  we  would  find  fewer 
"mistakes"  on  the  part  of  forwarding  offices,  credit  men 
and  banks,  and  lawyers  would  get  less  "thanks"  and 
more  justice. 

Isn't  it  pertinent  to  ask,  why  should  the  lawyer  suf- 
fer from  the  errors  of  banks  and  forwarders  and  their 
clients,  particularly  since  the  most  of  these  cases  arise 
where  the  lawyer's  name  has  been  used  without  his 
knowledge  or  authority? 


266  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Making  Collections  Pay. — Making  a  Profit  From 

the  Collection  Department. — Profiting  From 

"Worthless"  Business. — Collections  as 

a  Feeder. 


MAKING  COLLECTIONS  PAY. 

Do  "collections"  pay?  They  do  and  they  do  not. 
Where  they  do  not  there  is  something  wrong  with  the 
office  system  employed,  or  the  expense  loaded  on  to  this 
particular  service  is  too  great,  or  there  is  not  enough 
of  this  sort  of  work  to  warrant  anything  more  than  cur- 
sory attention  to  it. 

The  first  reason  may  be  readily  discovered.  It  is 
simply  a  question  of  what  proportion  of  the  office  ex- 
pense is  chargeable  to  this  service  and  how  does  that 
compare  with  the  income  from  it.  In  other  words,  how 
much  of  the  expense  of  your  office  could  you  cut  off  if 
you  refused  collections  entirely  and  how  does  this  sav- 
ing compare  with  the  returns  from  the  service? 

Many  times  it  will  be  found  that  an  antiquated, 
clumsy  system  of  work  is  to  blame.  Barnacles  have  ac- 
cumulated on  the  ship  and  these  impede  the  progress. 
You  have  failed  to  learn,  as  time  has  gone  on,  the  mod- 
ern way  of  doing  business.  You  are  competing  with 
up-to-date  men  and  methods  and  you  simply  have  drop- 
ped behind. 

More  often  the  failure  is  due  to  the  fact  that  there  is 
little  of  such  business  in  the  community  on  which  to 
found  a  success,  in  which  case  if  you  have  added  much 
expense  to  your  office  to  take  care  of  such  business  you 
naturally  lose  money. 

Hundreds  of  lawyers  annually  quit  "collections"  be- 
cause, as  they  say,  they  do  not  pay.  Hundreds  of  oth- 
ers not  only  continue  at  it,  but  say  they  make  money  at 
it.  With  all  due  allowances  for  differences  in  loca- 
tions, there  must  be  something  wrong  with  the  unsuc- 
cessful man  if  his  neighbor  can  do  the  same  sort  of  busi- 
ness and  show  a  profit. 


AND    HIS   WORK  367 

I  am  convinced  that  collections  can  be  made  to  pay 
wherever  such  business  can  be  had  in  appreciable 
amount.  I  am  further  convinced  that  nine  men  out 
of  ten  who  quit  the  business  because  it  is  unprofitable 
have  only  themselves  and  not  the  business  to  blame. 

The  whole  question  is  one  of  fitting  the  expense  to 
the  income.  If  a  lawyer  spends  five  hundred  dollars  a 
year  in  making  two  hundred  dollars  in  fees,  he  is  not 
managing  right.  He  has  exactly  the  same  problem  as 
the  storekeeper  has.  He  must  fit  his  expenses  to  suit 
his  environment.  Plate  glass  windows,  mahogany  wood- 
work, marble  floors,  cut  glass  electric  fixtures  hardly 
spell  wisdom  in  a  grocer  who  caters  to  a  "cheap-john" 
trade.  The  more  he  advertises,  the  higher  grade  goods 
he  carries,  the  more  he  decorates,  the  more  he  loses. 
The  wise  grocer  cuts  the  cloth  to  the  pattern.  There 
is  money  in  collections,  even  if  but  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars in  fees  are  realized,  if  the  expense  is  kept  where  it 
should  be. 

I  am  talking  now  of  collections  only  and  I  am  not 
thinking  of  the  indirect  profits  to  be  obtained  from  a 
wider  acquaintance  and  clientage  and  from  the  law  em- 
ployments growing  out  of  collection  service. 

I  believe  that  every  department  of  the  business  of 
the  lawyer  should  pay  a  profit — that  every  part  of  his 
work  should  stand  or  fall  on  its  own  merits.  Many  a 
time  the  argument  is  made  by  the  advocates  of  the  free 
reporting  system  that  it  should  be  carried  at  a  loss  be- 
cause it  produces  collections,  and  then  we  are  told  that 
collections  should  be  welcomed  at  pauper  rates,  and  on 
the  contingent  basis  at  that,  because  they  produce  legal 
business.  I  do  not  agree.  I  consider  that  every  ser- 
vice a  lawyer  renders  is  worth  a  price  and  that  that  price 
should  be  what  will  reasonably  compensate  the  lawyer 
for  his  time  and  effort. 

It  is  well  known  that  thousands  of  law  firms  en- 
gaged   almost   wholly    in    the   commercial    business,    in 


268  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

which  business  litigation  cuts  very  little  figure,  have 
continued  in  the  business  year  after  year  and  given  in- 
disputable evidence  of  producing  good  incomes  to  all 
connected  Math  them.  This  could  not  be  were  the  col- 
lection business  per  se,  as  conducted  by  the  lawyer,  a 
losing  business. 

When  Mr.  Elbert  C.  Ferguson  of  Chicago  died  there 
passed  away  a  typical  commercial  lawyer.  His  whole 
life  was  devoted  to  making  a  success  out  of  the  com- 
mercial side  of  the  law.  He  began  at  the  very  bottom 
round  of  the  ladder.  No  man  ever  began  more  humbly. 
Many  a  time  has  he  told  me  how  he  made  his  debut 
without  money  and  influence  in  a  great  city  crowded 
with  lawyers  struggling  for  place ;  how  with  desperate 
local  collections  in  his  pocket  he  tramped  through  the 
very  slums  of  the  city  to  get  a  few  dollars.  And  yet 
that  man,  honest  and  courageous,  went  steadily  forward 
until  he  had  one  of  the  handsomest  offices  in  Chicago, 
with  other  lawyers  as  his  assistants  and  a  finely  equip- 
ped collection  department.  At  his  death  he  left  a  beau- 
tiful home  on  one  of  Chicago's  most  exclusive  avenues, 
a  modest  fortune  in  money,  stocks  and  bonds  and  a  cir- 
cle of  friends  bounded  only  by  the  two  oceans.  He 
rose  to  be  President  of  the  Commercial  Law  League 
of  America.  Collections  made  this  man.  In  his  case 
collections  paid. 

As  I  write  I  think  of  a  young  lawyer  who  has  been 
located  in  Chicago  but  five  years.  In  that  five  years  he 
has  gathered  about  him  a  staff  of  seventeen  employes, 
three  of  whom  are  lawyers,  his  offices  being  an  exten- 
sive suite  in  a  high-class  office  building.  He  comes  to 
his  office  in  a  high-powered  motor  car.  He  belongs  to 
the  leading  clubs.  He  is  a  commercial  lawyer.  The 
very  foundations,  side  walls,  supporting  pillars  and  roof 
of  his  business  structure  are  collections. 

My  whole  contention  is  that  success  in  this  line  is 
not  so  much  in  the  business  itself,  but  in  the  man.     It 


AND    HIS    WORK  269 

is  the  same  in  this  field  of  endeavor  as  in  every  other. 
Success  is  a  question  of  brain,  not  of  matter. 

Of  course,  my  small  city  or  country  town  readers 
vi^ill  say,  "But  I  am  not  in  Chicago."  True.  Neither  is 
your  successful  town  merchant  in  Chicago.  He  cannot 
be  where  he  is  and  be  a  Marshall  Field  &  Co.,  but  he 
can  be  a  successful  merchant  nevertheless.  So  with  the 
so-called  country  lawyer.  He  can  make  collections  pay 
if  he  uses  the  degree  of  care,  thought,  time,  system  and 
energy  in  it  that  is  used  by  the  successful  merchant  who 
studies  every  department  of  his  business  to  make  it  not 
only  pay  for  itself,  but  pay  a  profit. 

I  am  told  that  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Co.,  one  of  the 
greatest  mail  order  houses  in  the  world,  requires  of  each 
of  its  scores  of  department  managers  a  certain  percent- 
age of  profit  or  something  happens  in  that  department. 
The  lawyer  should  be  just  as  careful  to  see  that  his  col- 
lection service  is  built  on  economical,  money  making 
lines  and  be  made  to  pay  a  profit. 

A  commercial  lawyer  in  an  unprofitable  community 
may  greatly  enlarge  his  usefulness  and  income  by  open- 
ing a  field  of  operations  extending  over  one  or  more 
counties.  This  I  have  referred  to  elsewhere.  A  man 
who  succeeds  in  pleasing  mercantile  clients  and  for- 
warders in  his  local  work  may  quickly  enlarge  his  field 
of  operations,  because  the  number  of  good  men  in  the 
commercial  law  line  in  any  given  territory  is  usually 
very  small. 

Forwarders  often  find  a  satisfactory  representative 
at  a  certain  point  and  unable  to  get  his  sort  of  service 
from  others  within  a  radius  of  one  hundred  miles.  Here 
is  the  satisfactory  man's  opportunity.  It  is  within  his 
power  to  build  up  a  wide  commercial  business  without 
moving  to  the  crowded  city. 

No  man  can  make  collections  pay  who  spends  his 
money  indiscriminately  on  law  lists.  There  are  ways 
which  I  have  pointed  out  for  obtaining  a  line  on  the 
profitless   class,   and   yet,    really   without    exaggeration. 


270  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  are  being  paid  by  law- 
yers to  worthless  publishing  enterprises  every  year.  No 
wonder  collections  do  not  pay,  so  long  as  lawyers  pay. 

In  making  collections  pay  the  commercial  lawyer 
must  use  some  judgment  in  the  class  of  clients  and  the 
class  of  business  he  accepts  and  the  fees  he  charges. 

It  is  not  so  much  how  much  business  I  have  as  it  is 
what  sort  of  business  and  how  I  handle  it  that  is  going 
to  determine  my  success  with  it. 

It  is  very  hard  to  draw  the  line  between  the  matter 
to  be  refused  and  that  to  be  accepted.  As  I  will  explain 
later,  I  believe  one  can  well  afford  to  accept  any  honor- 
able employment,  even  though  it  be  a  hopeless  task. 
There  are  ways  of  handling  even  hopeless  tasks  to  win 
a  good  opinion  at  least  and  at  a  very  slight  expense. 
But  once  it  is  discovered  that  a  client  or  forwarder  deals 
almost  wholly  in  "seconds"  or  worthless  items  (worth- 
less when  they  reach  the  lawyer)  the  connection  should 
be  respectfully  declined. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  hold  on  the  books  unprofitable  mat- 
ter simply  for  fear  that  returning  business  may  cause 
you  to  lose  a  client.  As  long  as  you  have  this  business 
he  is  holding  you  responsible  for  results  you  cannot  fur- 
nish and  your  reputation  is  suffering.  Weed  out,  peri- 
odically, the  dead  wood  in  your  files  and  let  some  one 
else  hold  the  bag  and  finally  win  the  reputation  of  fail- 
ure with  it. 

Never  allow  yourself  to  return  an  item  of  business 
without  an  adequate  reason.  Don't  say  simply  "worth- 
less," "dead,"  "outlawed."  Because  the  forwarder  must 
report  more  than  that,  and  it  is  your  business,  no  mat- 
ter how  disagreeable,  to  help  the  forwarder  keep  the 
client.  Too  many  times  has  what  appeared  worthless 
to  one  proven  profitable  to  another. 

The  so-called  worthless  collection  often  holds  within 
itself  considerable  of  value  to  him  who  will  look  for  it. 
It  gives  an  opportunity  to  please  the  client. 


AND    HIS    WORK  271 

It  gives  an  introduction  to  at  least  two  people,  both 
of  whom  the  lawyer  may  never  before  have  come  in  con- 
tact with,  1.  e.,  the  client  or  forwarder  and  the  debtor 
1  say  at  least  two ;  it  may  be  more. 

It  gives  the  lawyer  an  opportunity  to  do  the  impos- 
sible.  ^  ^ 

A  chance  to  please  a  client  is  always  to  be  welcomed'' 
Sometmies  I  think  a  careful,  conscientious  report  in  a 
hopeless  case  does  more  to  impress  the  client  than  a  re- 
mittance on  an  easy  item.     I  believe  some  of  my  best 
clients  m  my  first  days  were  won  by  studied  care  on  my 
part  m  reporting  on  hopeless  cases.       The  impression 
given  was  that,  if  I  could  be  so  thorough  with  a  bad 
matter,  what  might  I  not  do  with  a  good  one 
.m'^?"^*'''''   ^  worthless  matter  with  only   the   label 
IN.   U     IS  to  say  nothing  or  worse  than  nothing    as 
every  one  has  learned  that  the  meaning  of  "N    G'''de 
pends  on  who  says  it.     Once  a  client  of  mine  'returned 
to  his  office  after  a  trip  and  reported  in  my  presence  that 
he  had  had  a  wild  goose  chase  and  that  the  claim  he 
went  to  collect  was  "N.  G."     I  suggested  that  he  was  a 
poor  collector.     He  dared  me  to  undertake  it,  offering  a 
fat   commission.     I   took   the   job   and   got   the   money, 
though  I  almost  had  to  steal  it.     On  the  other  hand  I 
have  reported  matters  "N.  G."  and  have  had  clients  show 
me  afterwards  my  mistake. 

If  we  could  realize  how  hard  it  is  to  win  clients  in 
the  face  of  modern  competition  we  would  court  every 
opportunity  to  make  the  favorable  impression.  If  you 
know  a  matter  is  worthless,  impart  your  knowledge 
give  facts  and  not  conclusions.  Drop  the  matter,  but 
take  care  at  the  same  time  you  don't  drop  the  client 

A  full,  intelligible  report  on  a  worthless  matter  puts 
the  client  under  obligation  to  you.  The  other  sort  of  a 
report  earns  his  ill-will.  He  may  not  often  need  you 
but  when  he  does,  once  he  is  pleased,  he  will  recall' 
the  man  who  was  painstaking  and  courteous  in  a  matter 
that  got  him  nothing. 


272  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

The  good  impression  can  be  gained  by  the  careful 
handling  of  a  small  but  worthless  matter  quicker  than 
by  the  handling  of  a  large  worthless  item.  It  is  to  be 
assumed  that  the  lawyer's  natural  cupidity  would  lead 
him  to  exert  himself  in  the  latter  case.  The  presump- 
tion is  the  other  way  in  the  former. 

Of  the  so-called  worthless  claim  as  an  introducer, 
an  acquaintance  builder,  I  cannot  speak  too  earnestly. 
Anything  that  brings  you  in  contact  in  a  business  way 
with  your  fellows  is  of  value  to  you,  no  matter  how 
trivial  and  unprofitable  it  is  in  itself,  and  no  matter 
how  unlikely  to  produce  business  the  acquaintance  it 
breeds. 

It  is  a  hobby  of  mine  that  every  man  and  woman 
a  lawyer  must  dun  for  a  debt,  or  sue  on  a  contract,  or 
call  as  a  witness,  or  what  not,  is  a  possible  client.  Adroit 
handling  of  men  and  women  with  whom  we  come  in 
contact  even  the  most  casually  produces  wonderful  re- 
sults. Any  man,  no  matter  how  lowly,  how  poor,  how 
worthless,  is  hitched  up  somehow,  somewhere,  with 
other  people. 

It  is  a  sheer  waste  of  opportunity  to  treat  all  men 
whom  we  have  matters  pending  against  as,  for  the  time 
being,  enemies  or  antagonists.  It  is  our  privilege  to 
win  the  good  opinions  of  this  class  and  it  is  easy  and 
profitable  to  do  it. 

Letters  to  debtors,  even  to  dead  beats,  can  be  made 
so  human  that  the  recipient  is  won,  if  not  his  empty 
pocketbook.  Many  a  fellow  is  in  trouble  because  there 
is  no  one  to  suggest  a  way  out.  Your  dun  comes  to 
him  in  the  stereotyped,  threatening  form  as  another 
kick  down  the  hill ;  he  damns  you  for  it  and  disregards 
you.  A  kindly  expression  often  brings  a  man  to  your 
office,  if  only  to  say  he  appreciates  your  treatment,  and 
the  call  often  ends  in  his  trying  and,  with  your  advice, 
succeeding. 


AND    HIS    WORK  273 

The  pay-or-go-to-jail-or-hang  sort  of  letter  never 
gets  there  with  a  so-called  worthless  matter  and,  while 
it  may  get  the  money,  it  doesn't  get  the  man,  and  in  my 
opinion  getting  the  man  is  more  than  getting  the  money ; 
but  you  can  get  both. 

The  collection  department  should  get  this  idea 
soaked  in  well,  that  ninety-nine  men  out  of  a  hundred 
are  susceptible  to  kindly  treatment;  that  sugar  catches 
more  flies  than  vinegar,  and  that  a  debtor  in  the  office 
is  worth  two  in  hiding. 

Win  your  client's  good  opinion  and  the  debtor's  good 
will  and  acquaintance  and  the  despised  collection  looms 
up  as  a  blessing  in  disguise. 

But  above  all  it  gives  the  lawyer  a  chance  to  show 
his  metal.  Anybody  can  do  easy  things.  There  is  no 
chance  to  make  a  reputation  doing  things  that  require 
only  ordinary  tact  and  skill. 

Did  you  ever  notice  how  elated  your  office  is  when 
you  make  a  ten-strike  with  no  chance  to  win  and  when 
you  get  your  client's  letter  you  want  to  frame  it.  Scores 
of  such  letters  have  been  sent  me  by  lawyers  who  just 
had  to  tell  some  one.  The  impossible  has  been  accom- 
plished, and  like  the  Biblical  one  as  compared  with  the 
ninety  and  nine,  it  brings  rejoicing. 

I  would  compel  a  feeling  in  my  collection  department 
that  no  claim  is  worthless  except  by  comparison  and 
that  if  it  can  only  realize  on  the  easy  things  there  is  time 
somebody  else  ran  the  department. 

THE  DRAFT  SYSTEM. 

The  draft  system  is,  as  the  name  implies,  a  system 
of  making  collections  through  drafts  drawn  by  creditors 
upon  debtors  payable  through  banks.  The  system  is  as 
old  as  the  hills  as  between  creditor  and  debtor.  A  com- 
paratively modern  development  has  been  the  draft  sys- 
tem as  employed  by  lawyers  and  agencies,  and  particu- 
larly the  latter. 


274  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

I  do  not  know  just  when  the  mercantile  world  began 
using  drafts  through  lawyers  and  agencies^  but  I  do 
know  that  at  the  first  convention  of  the  Commercial  Law 
League  of  America,  some  twenty-three  years  ago,  one  of 
the  leading  papers  read  and  discussed  was  on  the  sub- 
ject, "Is  the  Draft  System  a  Benefit  or  a  Detriment  to 
the  Lawyer?"  So  that  I  can  assume  that  the  system  was 
in  full  swing  at  that  time. 

In  the  first  place,  there  can  be  no  objection  to  the 
draft  system  in  its  simplest  form,  that  is  the  drawing 
of  a  draft  by  a  creditor  on  a  debtor  for  the  amount  of  his 
debt.  The  later  development  of  the  system,  however, 
has  not  been  without  criticism.  I  think,  however,  the 
criticism  has  been  largely  uncalled  for. 

Whether  the  draft  is  drawn  by  the  merchant  to  the 
order  of  the  agency  and  by  it  endorsed  to  bank,  or  wheth- 
er the  merchant  draws  a  draft  on  an  agency  form  and 
send  it  direct  to  the  bank,  or  whether  the  agency  itself 
draws  the  draft  on  the  debtor  and  sends  it  direct  to  the 
bank,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  reason  in  morals,  or 
ethics,  or  good  business  judgment,  to  object. 

I  have  always  been  inclined  to  feel  that  the  draft  sys- 
tem was  a  direct  benefit  to  the  lawyer  in  that  it  serves 
to  bring  into  course  of  collection  many  accounts  that 
otherwise  would  remain  on  the  merchants'  books  and 
be  paid  in  the  course  of  time  without  the  use  of  attor- 
neys. Drafts,  as  a  rule,  are  not  drawn  on  the  sort  of  de- 
linquent claims  that  would  otherwise  go  at  once  to  an 
attorney;  they  are  used,  as  a  rule,  on  good  but  slow  ac- 
counts, accounts  that  are  not  in  great  need  of  legal  at- 
tention, but  which  require  simply  a  little  extra  push,  and 
the  extra  push  is  given  through  the  medium  of  the  draft 
and  the  knowledge  the  debtor  has  that  the  matter 
is  likely  to  go  into  strange  hands  if  the  draft  is  not  paid. 

So  that  many  a  delinquent  account  that  is  simply  slow, 
on   a   draft  being  dishonored,   at    once   comes   into   the 


AND    HIS    WORK  275 

hands  of  the  agency  or  the  lawyer  and  becomes  profit- 
able business. 

There  can  be  no  objection  to  a  draft  being  drawn  and 
the  statement  made  to  the  debtor  that  if  it  is  not  paid  it 
will  be  turned  over  to  an  attorney,  provided  that  the  at- 
torney is  not  identified.  Here  arises  the  chief  criticism 
of  the  draft  system  in  that  the  custom  has  arisen  and  is 
being  too  generally  followed  of  giving  the  name  of 
the  attorney  to  whom  the  draft  is  to  be  handed  in  case 
of  its  not  being  paid.  The  result  of  this,  of  course,  is 
harmful  to  the  lawyer,  since  he  has  no  way  of  protect- 
ing himself,  not  having  any  notice  of  the  draft  being 
drawn  and  his  name  being  used. 

There  are  various  methods  used  of  bringing  the  name 
of  the  attorney  before  the  debtor.  His  name  may  be 
used  on  the  draft  itself  in  the  margin  or  on  the  back 
thereof,  or  on  a  perforated  stub,  in  either  of  which  cases 
the  debtor  to  whom  the  draft  is  presented  sees  what 
lawyer  will  be  used  against  him  in  case  he  fails  to  pay. 

One  prominent  agency,  one  of  the  most  prominent  in 
the  United  States,  used  for  a  long  time  a  draft 
with  a  perforated  portion  which  consisted  of  a 
letter  to  the  bank,  and  another  perforated  portion  which 
consisted  of  a  letter  to  the  debtor.  In  the  letter  to  the 
bank  the  attorney's  name  was  used.  A  copy  of  the  draft 
and  the  two  attached  letters  were  customarily  sent  to 
the  debtor  direct.  The  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America  took  steps  to  stop  this  practice  on  the  part  of 
the  agency  referred  to,  and  after  some  strenuous  efforts 
success  crowned  its  eflforts.  That  agency  now  sends  the 
name  of  the  attorney  to  the  bank  in  a  separate  envelope, 
so  that  the  debtor  is  not  advised  on  the  draft  being  pre- 
sented to  him  as  to  who  of  his  fellow  townsmen  is  to 
be  employed  against  him  if  he  fails  to  pay. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  this  form  of  iniquity  is  going 
"out  of  style"  and  that  we  may  expect  within  a  com- 
paratively short  time  to  find  that  attorneys'  names  are 


276  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

not  thus  being  used  without  authority — another  indica- 
tion of  the  benefit  conferred  upon  the  commercial  la-w- 
and collection  world  by  the  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America. 

However,  the  evil  practice  still  continues  in  some 
quarters;  agencies,  connected  with  law  lists,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  are  still  selling  blank  drafts  and  forms  of  letters 
to  merchants  whose  wording  provides  that  the  name  of 
the  attorney  shall  be  inserted  so  that  the  debtor  may 
be  advised  and  properly  frightened  into  paying. 

I  think  an  improvement  will  come  in  the  present 
method  in  that  when  a  draft  is  drawn  on  a  bank  and 
the  bank  advised  to  hand  the  same  over  to  an  attorney 
if  it  is  not  paid,  the  attorney  (at  the  time  the  draft  is 
sent  to  the  bank)  will  be  notified  of  the  fact  and  be  re- 
quested to  call  on  the  bank  on  a  reasonable  time  after 
date  of  payment,  and  obtain  the  draft.  This  would  be 
an  improvement  in  present  conditions  in  this  way :  The 
draft  would  be  more  promptly  collected  by  the  bank  if 
they  knew  it  was  going  to  be  called  on  to  turn  it  over 
to  an  attorney  if  it  was  not  promptly  paid.  Very  often 
a  bank  has  a  claim  of  its  own  against  the  debtor  in  ques- 
tion, or  is  interested  in  the  debtor's  business  in  some 
way,  or  it  may  have  other  and  prior  drafts  in  its  hands 
against  this  same  debtor  which  it  is  interested  in 
first  collecting.  Drafts  are,  therefore,  often  held  by 
banks  with  no  effort,  or  at  most  a  lukewarm  effort,  to 
collect,  and  it  is  not  an  unusual  thing  for  a  bank  to  be 
slow  in  remitting. 

If  the  attorney  were  notified  when  the  draft  was 
made  that  he  was  (on  a  certain  date)  to  call  and  get  it 
at  the  bank,  the  bank  would  know  that  promptness  was 
essential  if  it  was  to  get  anything  out  of  the  transaction. 
Then,  too,  where  a  draft  is  lying  in  bank,  the  debtor 
having  been  notified  of  its  being  there  and  having  been 
favored  with  a  threat,  he  is  given  the  opportunity  to 
escape  it  if  he  is  so  minded  or  to  fix  his  business  so 


AND    HIS    WORK 


27T 


that  the  lawyer  will  find  it  difficult  to  handle  the  matter 
when  ,t  comes  into  his  hands.  By  the  prompt  transfer 
of  the  matter  from  the  bank  to  the  lawyer,  this  danger 
is  mmimized.  ^ 

f...^°T  '7^  ^™'?''  ''  '^''  ^^'"^^^  '-''y  ^^^^tly  facili- 
tate collections  and  save  many  a  claim  otherwise  in 
jeopardy. 

Drafts  sent  to  banks,  as  I  have  said,  often  lie  dor- 
mant for  some  time.  Occasionally  the  bank  must  be 
urged  to  report  on  the  matter.  In  the  course  of  time 
the  dra  t  may  be  returned,  in  which  case  it  becomes  nec- 
essary for  the  claim  to  travel  back  to  the  attorney-all 
his  a  a  waste  of  time,  endangering  the  success  of  efTort 
to  collect. 

f.l/'  'T  T"  ""■'"  """^'"'"'^'i  'hat  the  draft  system 
fell  under  the  general  meaning  of  the  term  "colleetion" 
so  as  to  require  that  forwarders  should  handle  drafts  on 

t,ZrZ  "  "'^°'  '^"  ^^  ^PP"'^  '"  -"«""-  '" 
fern  of;  T"''  '""^  '"°™'y'  ^^''°  "^<=  'h-=  d"ft  sys- 
tem often  eharge   two  and  three  per  cent.     There  are 

some  who  do  it  for  even  less,  and  not  a  few  who  w  , 
furmsh  draft  forms  to  their  clients  to  be  used  by  them 
ree  of  charge  w,th  the  understanding  that  if  the  draft" 
ar  not  pa.d  they  will  be  turned  over  for  collection  In 
no    [''"''l'°"r  '"'  '""  "'^  ^^?"'"  "anner.     I  d" 

fault    X;  a  T'  ^^""^"^  """''  '"y  "g'"  «°  find 

faul    vv,th  any  such  arrangement.     I  know  this    that  it 

would  be  futile  to  find  fault,  as  the  system  is  a  perfectly 

Ieg.t,mate  one,  and  has  been  in  operation  so  many  vea  s 

and   .s  so  well  grounded   that  it  would   be   practfcallv 

.™poss,ble  to  eradicate  it.  if  it  were  deemed 'd^^^^ble 

that  thrdrafr"",*"'"  °'  ""=  ""'"'""'  ^^  I  have  stated 
1aZ\  ^"'V  ^u  ""  "  ""'  "  detriment  to  the  lawyer 
and  that  ,t  ,s  both  a  benefit  to  him  and  to  the  mercha!,t' 
vor  d.  ,nasm„ch  as  it  puts  business  into  circulaTon  in  a 
fresher  cond.fon,  and  hence  is  more  profitable  to  he  law 
yer  and  agency  class  than  if  the  merchant  worW  waited 


278  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

until  the  claims  on  the  books  became  so  far  delinquent 
as  to  unquestionably  need  agency  or  legal  service. 

I  would  advise  lawyers  whose  names  are  used  in  an 
unwarranted  way  to  make  a  charge  to  the  forwarder  or 
the  merchant  of  a  reasonable  fee  notwithstanding  the 
draft  may  be  paid  at  the  bank  and  never  come  into  his 
hands.  The  difficulty,  however,  in  these  cases  is  to  know 
that  there  are  any  such  drafts  in  existence.  Not  infre- 
quently, however,  parties  on  whom  drafts  are  drawn 
with  threats  of  this  kind  advise  the  lawyer,  so  that  he 
is  enabled  to  protect  himself. 

I  have  even  thought  that  in  communities  where  the 
task  would  not  be  too  great  it  would  be  well  for  the  law- 
yer to  notify  all  the  merchants  and  dealers  in  his  town 
that  if  drafts  are  drawn  on  them  with  his  name  used  as 
the  lawyer  in  whose  hands  they  are  to  come  if  not  paid, 
they  may  know  that  his  name  was  used  without  authority, 
and  request  that  information  be  given  to  him,  in  order 
that  he  may  protect  himself  against  such  unfair  deal- 
ings. This  would  serve  the  double  purpose  of  stopping 
the  practice,  in  that  town,  and  also  of  permitting  the 
lawyer  to  make  a  ten-strike  with  his  fellow-citizens. 

Here  is  a  place  where  a  local  organization  of  the 
commercial  lawyers  of  a  town  can  serve  a  good  purpose 
by  jointly  notifying  all  merchants  and  dealers  in  the 
town  that  such  proceeding  is  unauthorized  and  request- 
ing information  as  to  individual  cases  coming  within 
their  knowledge. 

Here  and  there  a  lawyer  may  be  so  related  to  the 
bank  or  banks  of  his  town  that  he  may  advise  them  of 
the  situation  and  obtain  from  them  information  of  such 
unwarranted  use  of  his  name. 

Whenever  a  case  arises  the  party  injured  should  at 
once  notify  the  Commercial  League  of  America,  which 
has  declared  this  form  of  collecting  to  be  unfair. 

It  will  be  understood  that  I  do  not  condemn  the  draft 
system  in  itself;  but  that  I  do  condemn  abuses  that 
have  grown  out  of  it. 


AND    HIS    WORK  279 

THE  ADJUSTMENT  SYSTEM 
From  a  merchant  himself  or  one  of  his  employes  vis- 
iting a  delinquent  debtor  for  the  purposes  of  making  an 
adjustment  or  collection  of  a  claim,  to  the  employment 
of  a  stranger  to  do  it,  is  a  simple  step. 

The  adjustment  agency  or  adjustment  bureau  is  sim- 
ply a  name  for  an  individual  or  collection  of  individuals 
who  offer  to  the  merchants  to  go  out  on  claims  of  con- 
siderable size  on  a  per  diem,  sometimes  expense  added, 
and  adjust  matters  v^^ith  debtors  where  there  are  dis- 
putes, or  even  where  the  debtors  are  merely  delinquent. 
Adjustment  bureaus  or  agencies  are  of  somewhat 
modern  growth.  There  is  nothing  new  or  novel  in  the 
idea— it  is  simply  the  enlargement  of  the  collection 
agency  idea  to  include  the  employment  of  men  expert 
in  handling  large  matters  and  relieving  the  merchant 
of  the  necessity  of  going  himself  or  sending  some  one 
from  his  office. 

Usually  the  adjustment  bureau  or  agency  advertises 
to  cover  a  certain  prescribed  territory;  in  other  cases, 
the  bureaus  or  agencies  are  so  extended  in  their  dealings 
they  divide  up  the  entire  country  into  sections  or  dis- 
tricts and  employ  an  adjuster  at  some  central  important 
point  in  each  district.  In  most  cases,  these  adjusters 
are  lawyers  or  law  firms. 

The  basic  idea  of  an  adjustment  is  that  there  is  some 
difference  to  arbitrate,  some  counter  claim  or  some  ob- 
jection arising  out  of  the  transaction  itself  which  re- 
quires expert  handling  over  and  above  what  a  collector 
might  do.  Adjustment  bureaus  and  agencies,  however, 
do  not  confine  themselves  to  adjustments  proper,  but 
are  really  collection  agencies,  their  adjustments  being 
simply  names  for  items  of  business  running  up  into  large 
amounts. 

As  originally  devised,  it  was  intended  that  the  ad- 
juster going  out  from  the  bureau  or  agency  should  ap- 
proach the  debtor  as  a  business  man  and  even  go  so  far 


280  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

as  to  hoodwink  him  into  the  idea  that  he  was  coming 
direct  from  the  merchant  and  that  he  was  doing  so  in 
order  that  the  matter  might  be  kept  out  of  the  hands  of 
agencies  or  lawyers.  This  deceit  is  constantly  practiced, 
and  is  of  course  excusable  only  on  the  grounds  of  "the 
end  justifies  the  means. 

The  adjustment  bureaus  of  the  National  Association 
of  Credit  Men  have  sprung  into  great  prominence  of 
recent  years.  These  bureaus  were  originally  organized 
for  the  purpose  of  making  amicable  arrangements  be- 
tween debtors  and  creditors,  saving  merchants  from  fail- 
ure, arriving  at  just  conclusions  as  to  the  advisability 
of  making  compromises,  assisting  merchants  in  arriving 
at  a  conclusion  as  to  their  own  solvency,  marshaling 
assets,  and  so  far  as  possible  saving  the  business  world 
from  failures.  The  purpose  was  a  very  laudable  one; 
but  it  soon  developed  that  the  bureau  could  not  live  on 
this  sort  of  business  alone,  and  as  a  result  the  general 
collection  business  was  grafted  on  it  and  has  now  be- 
come a  component  part  of  its  work. 

In  the  early  days  of  these  adjustment  bureaus  of  the 
Credit  Men's  Association,  it  was  strenuously  denied  by 
the  officials  of  the  Association  and  the  bureaus  them- 
selves that  the  bureaus  were  intended  to  be  collection 
agencies,  but  there  is  no  such  plea  made  at  this  time, 
the  bureaus  having  taken  it  into  their  own  hands  to 
build  their  business  to  suit  themselves.  The  fact  is  the 
National  Association  of  Credit  Men  has  little,  if  any, 
control  or  authority  over  these  adjustment  bureaus,  as 
they  are,  in  most  cases,  controlled  by  the  local  branches 
of  the  Association. 

Many  of  these  associations  come  very  close  to  being 
house  agencies ;  indeed,  if  we  are  to  be  honest  with  our 
application  of  the  definition  of  a  house  agency,  more 
than  a  dozen  of  these  so-called  "adjustment  bureaus" 
would  be  condemned  as  house  agencies  and  declared 
not  to  be  entitled  to  a  division  of  fees  on  the  business 


AND    HIS    WORK  281 

they  send  to  attorneys.  The  reason  for  this  is  simple, 
it  being  that  the  bureaus  are  owned  and  controlled  by 
the  members  of  the  local  associations;  the  manager  is 
on  a  salary.  If  anybody  gets  any  profit  or  any  advan- 
tage from  the  division  of  fees  with  the  lawyers,  it  is  the 
owners  of  the  business.  They  simply  use  this  money 
for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  expenses  of  the  collection 
of  the  claims  through  the  bureau.  They  are,  in  other 
words,  paying  less  for  collecting  them  than  are  mer- 
chants generally  who  do  not  use  the  bureau  unless  they 
themselves  are  operating  house  agencies  and  deceiving 
the  lawyers  in  the  matter  of  fees,  as  many  individual 
houses  do. 

This  is  my  opinion  as  to  the  true  character  of  many 
adjustment  bureaus.  I  say  this  without  any  desire  to 
press  my  views,  as  the  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America,  after  once  declaring  these  bureaus  to  be  house 
agencies  under  certain  conditions,  has  since  modified  its 
views  and  rescinded  its  action.  However,  I  am  entitled 
to  my  own  opinion  in  the  matter,  which  is  no  way  offi- 
cial. I  hold  the  same  opinion  as  to  certain  of  the  trade 
agencies  that  are  owned  and  controlled  by  their  mem- 
bers and  whose  manager  is  a  salaried  man;  and  also  as 
to  certain  of  the  credit  insurance  agencies,  one  of  which 
openly  declares  in  the  sending  out  of  its  business  that 
it  is  not  a  collection  agency  but  an  insurance  agency 
and  yet  it  demands  a  division  of  fees. 

I  have  no  question  at  all  but  what  the  adjustment 
bureau  can  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  merchant  world, 
but  I  think  that  much  more  importance  is  attributed  to 
it  than  it  is  entitled  to.  I  was  told  recently  by  a  rep- 
resentative of  one  of  the  biggest  adjusement  organiza- 
tions of  the  country  that  in  nearly  a  year's  time  he  had 
never  had  an  adjustment  sent  him,  and  he  represents 
one  of  the  largest  cities  in  the  country,  and  his  terri- 
tory covers  parts  of  several  states.  I  learned  from  an- 
other prominent  lawyer,  who  is  the  adjuster  in  a  large 


282  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

city  for  this  same  concern  and  whose  territory  embraces 
that  city  and  a  whole  state  in  addition,  that  he  had  had 
but  one  adjustment  in  a  year,  I  feel  that  the  adjustment 
feature  of  the  collection  business  is  more  of  a  talking 
point  than  a  real,  practical  thing  at  the  present  time. 

I  see  one  abuse  in  the  business  which  I  desire  to 
point  out.  One  at  least  of  the  large  concerns  advertising 
the  adjustment  feature  publishes  a  legal  directory  and 
sells  representation  to  every  city,  town  and  hamlet  in 
the  country  where  it  can  find  a  lawyer  ready  to  pay  for 
such  representation;  at  the  same  time  it  goes  into  the 
leading  cities  of  the  country  and  employs  law  firms  in 
each,  to  be  known  as  its  adjustment  representatives, 
and  to  each  of  them  is  given  a  wide  territory.  The  plan 
is  that,  where  an  adjustment  is  to  be  made  anywhere 
within  that  territory  of  any  considerable  amount,  the 
adjustment  representative  will  "travel  it,"  to  use  their 
words.  The  result,  of  course,  is  that  the  lawyer  in  the 
locality  where  the  debtor  resides  and  who  is.  by  reason 
of  his  contract  for  representation  with  the  law  list,  en- 
titled to  the  business  of  his  locality,  fails  to  get  it.  He 
will  get  small  items  that  may  go  over  the  list,  but  the 
large  item  will  go  to  the  city.  This  I  consider  to  be  em- 
inently unfair,  and  I  believe  the  time  will  come  when 
local  lawyers  will  spot  the  organization  that  adopts  the 
plan  and  will  cease  to  pay  it  money  for  directory  repre- 
sentation. When  that  time  comes  the  organization  will 
drop  the  adjustment  system,  because,  as  I  have  said, 
the  adjustment  system  has  not  reached  proportions  that 
would  warrant  an  enterprise  dropping  all  its  local  at- 
torneys for  what  it  can  get  out  of  the  comparatively 
small  adjustment  business  that  is  being  done. 

The  adjustment  bureau  idea  has  not,  as  I  have  said, 
developed  sufficiently  to  make  it  an  object  of  concern  to 
any  one,  if  indeed  it  ever  need  be.  Its  success  is  prob- 
lematic, and  to  my  mind  never  can  be  great.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  menace  to  the  business  interests  of  the  lawyers 


AND   HIS   WORK  283 

of  the  smaller  cities  and  communities  in  that  it  is  only 
another  means  by  which  business  is  being  centralized. 

It  should  be  understood  that  most  concerns  calling 
themselves  adjustment  companies  or  agencies  are  noth- 
ing more  than  collection  agencies  with  the  adjustment 
feature  so  subordinate  as  to  be  almost  negligible. 

A  scheme  of  collecting  is  adopted  by  some  agencies 
and  law  firms  in  the  big  centers  that  partakes  something 
of  the  nature  of  adjustment  bureaus.  They  advertise 
at  intervals  trips  to  be  made  by  special  collectors  or  ad- 
justers. The  towns  and  cities  that  are  to  be  visited  are 
named  with  the  approximate  dates  of  the  visits.  They 
are  enabled  thus  to  gather  up  considerable  outside  busi- 
ness which,  carried  in  the  pockets  of  the  traveling  ad- 
juster or  collector,  makes  less  business  for  the  local  law- 
yer. Such  practices,  however,  cannot  be  highly  remu- 
nerative, and  will  not  be  indulged  in  to  any  great  ex- 
tent. They  make,  however,  just  one  more  agency  that 
is  invading  the  field  of  the  so-called  "country  attorney." 

EMPLOYEES     AND     EQUIPMENT.— THE     ECO- 
NOMICAL AND  EFFICIENT  OFFICE 
IN  CITY  AND  COUNTRY. 

Things  controlled  are  desirable;  things  uncontrolled 
are  dangerous.     Instance,  the  automobile. 

Men  who  have  learned  best  the  secret  of  control 
have  been  the  most  successful. 

Take  the  matter  of  time.  How  many  men  control 
their  time?    All  men  think  they  do;  few  really  do. 

Take  the  average  day  in  your  life.  Call  the  roll  of 
the  minutes  and  check  off  those  that  have  not  answered 
to  your  will,  but  exercised  a  will  of  their  own ;  and  you, 
through  habit,  cowardice  or  laziness,  have  truckled  to 
them  like  the  weakling  that  you  really  are. 

You  think  you  control  your  work.  You  don't ;  your 
work  controls  you.    You  have  no  time  for  this,  that  and 


284  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

the  other  avocation,,  study,  vacation,  relaxation.  Of 
course  you  haven't.     You  have  no  time.     Time  has  you. 

I  am  not  talking  to  the  butcher,  the  baker,  the  candle- 
stick maker.  I  am  not  talking  to  the  merchant  and  the 
manufacturer.  I  am  talking  to  lawyers — the  most  sys- 
temless,  lawless  mortals  on  earth,  among  whom  there 
are  more  failures  than  in  any  other  class  of  workers  you 
can  name. 

I  mean  just  what  I  say.  Educated,  advantaged  in 
social  position,  intimately  related  as  they  are  to  life 
in  all  its  phases,  with  opportunities  for  observation  un- 
cqualed,  they,  as  a  class,  attain  less  in  the  summing  up 
than  men  in  almost  any  other  business  or  profession. 

Tradition  gives  the  lawyer  a  halo  of  respectability, 
and  this  is  often  his  entire  stock  in  trade.  He  is  usually 
careless  in  his  personal  affairs,  improvident  in  his  liv- 
ing and  unsystematic  in  his  methods. 

He  looks  with  disdain  on  the  man  who  controls  his 
time,  his  movements,  his  materials  and  his  tools.  "Scien- 
tific management,"  as  now  being  applied  in  the  conser- 
vation of  time,  energy  and  money  in  all  lines  of  ordinary 
endeavor,  in  the  store  and  the  factory,  is  without  inter- 
est or  value  to  him,  if  indeed  he  ever  gave  it  a  thought, 
whereas,  if  the  truth  were  known,  no  workshop  in  the 
world  needs  it  more  than  his. 

Scientific  management  may  cause  a  saving  of  50  per 
cent  in  the  time  and  labor  of  twenty  men  moving  a 
thousand  tons  of  pig  iron  a  hundred  rods.  But  wherein 
does  that  teach  a  lesson  to  him? 

Well,  we  will  see. 

If  you  are  over  sixty  years  of  age  and  rated  at  less 
than  $2,000  on  the  books  of  the  fellows  who  have  an 
unpleasant  way  of  running  around  rating  lawyers  and 
others,  and  those  ratings  arc  published  so  the  world  may 
know  them — and  I  am  able  to  know  yours;  if,  as  I  say, 
you  have  worked  for  some  forty  years  and  have  nothing 


AND    HIS    WORK 


285 


much  to  show  for  it,  perhaps  you  have  a  right  to  think 
I  can't  tell  you  anything. 

But  there  are  a  lot  of  young  men  and  middle  aged 
men  in  the  practice  with  some  future  before  them.  To 
these  I  particularly  address  myself  and  I  believe  they 
will   listen. 

Because  it  is  not  pleasant  for  young  men  to  realize, 
as  they  must,  when  they  read  the  statistics,  that  the 
chances  for  a  juicy  old  age  are  not  overwhelmingly  large 
in  our  profession. 

By  whose  authority  do  I  speak? 

No  matter.  ,7 

Scientific  management  means  such  management  as 
will  produce  results  aimed  at  with  the  least  expendi- 
ture of  time,  effort  and  money. 

An  example  of  what  scientific  management  may  do 
in  even  the  simplest  and  lowest  forms  of  labor  was  re- 
cently given  in  a  popular  magazine : 

A  foundry  manager  desired  to  move  many  thousand 
tons  of  pig  iron  a  few  hundred  yars.  Scores  of  men 
accustomed  to  handling  pig  iron  were  set  to  work  under 
a  foreman.  Their  labor  consisted  merely  in  picking  up 
the  pigs,  walking  the  alloted  distance  with  them  and  re- 
turning for  another  load.  The  operation  was  simple  and 
needed,  you  would  say,  only  brute  strength  and  some 
one  to  see  that  the  men  worked.  An  experiment 
was  made.  An  expert  in  scientific  management  of  labor 
watched  the  work  for  some  hours,  noting  minutely  the 
number  and  character  of  the  movements  made  by  the 
men,  the  time  consumed  in  waiting  to  pick  up  a  load,  in 
starting,  in  covering  the  distance,  in  depositing  the  load, 
and  in  starting  the  return  trip.  From  these  data  he 
made  sundry  calculations  and  deductions.  Then  he  bar- 
gained with  one  of  the  men,  agreeing  to  pay  extra  wages 
if  he  Avould  do  exactly  as  told  for  a  whole  day.  Standing 
beside  the  man  he  directed  his  every  movement,  telling 


286  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

him  how  and  when  to  pick  up  his  load,  start,  carry,  drop, 
start  on  the  return,  when  to  rest,  how  long,  etc.,  etc. 

The  work  accomplished  by  this  man  was  found  at  the 
close  of  the  day  to  be  one-half  again  as  much  as  had 
formerly  been  accomplished  by  him  in  the  same  period, 
and  he  was  less  fatigued.  At  once  the  entire  force  was 
put  to  work  under  the  same  direction,  with  the  result 
that  the  job  was  accomplished  in  two-thirds  of  the  time 
that  otherwise  would  have  been  required,  the  men  work- 
ing no  harder  and  feeling  no  unusual  fatigue. 

Business  men  are  seeing  that  if  such  results  can  be 
accomplished,  by  a  study  of  ways  and  means,  in  the  low- 
est forms  of  labor  and  in  the  simplest  processes,  even 
greater  results  may  be  accomplished  where  the  processes 
are  many  and  complex  and  the  opportunities  for  waste 
motion  and  time  multitudinous. 

I  am  convinced  that  a  study  of  law  office  methods 
will  be  profitable  and  that  out  of  this  study  many  prac- 
tical suggestions  may  come  that  will  enable  the  lawyer 
to  conserve  his  time,  his  strength  and  his  money — in 
other  words,  that  scientific  management  may  be  applied 
advantageously  to  the  law  office. 

A  word  of  warning,  please,  before  I  start  in.  I  am 
going  to  talk  about  little  things,  but  little  things  which 
in  the  aggregate  amount  to  a  big  thing.  It  is,  in  fact,  in 
doing  the  little  things  that  we  find  the  most  waste.  In 
the  numberless  little  things  wrongly  done  one  may  dis- 
cover the  cause  of  more  than  one  failure  among  great 
enterprises.  It  is  the  little  things,  too,  that  annoy  and 
tire  and  destroy  our  happiness.  For  these  reasons  we 
should  welcome  any  suggestions  that  tend  to  reduce 
their  number  and  importance. 

First,  I  talk  to  you  about  your  correspondence.  I 
once  knew  a  lawyer  who  could  scarcely  open  and  close 
his  roll-top  desk  for  the  accumulation  of  papers — letters 
answered  and  unanswered,  legal  documents  and  odds 
and  ends.     I  know  another  whose  desk,  a  flat-top,  was 


AND    HIS    WORK  287 

always  cleared  for  action,  because  the  drawers  and 
pigeon-holes  beneath  the  polished  surface  hid  the  con- 
fused mass  that  the  other  man  unblushingly  advertised 
to  your  face.  There  was  not  a  day  that  these  men  did 
not  lose  time  and  come  perilously  near  breaking  a  com- 
mandment searching  for  something.  Another  man  puts 
half  his  mail  in  his  pocket  and  throws  the  other  half 
into  an  open  basket  on  his  desk.  When  he  wants  a  cer- 
tain letter  he  knows  just  where  it  is,  for  it  is  either  in 
the  basket  or  in  his  pocket,  and  he  knows  the  pocket,  if 
he  has  but  one  suit  of  clothes.  Another  man  uses  the 
drawers  of  his  desk  as  a  catch-all  and  he  gets  his  reward. 
Once,  after  sweating  blood  for  a  month  looking  for  a 
letter,  I  found  it  accidentally  when  taking  down  a  book 
from  its  place  on  my  library  shelf.  I  had  opened  the  let- 
ter one  day  while  reading,  used  it  as  a  book  mark,  laid 
down  the  book  for  a  season  and  then  forgot  the  circum- 
stance. That  little  piece  of  carelessness  cost  me  a  pretty 
penny. 

A  firm  of  two  or  more  members  selects  or  should 
select  one  of  its  number  to  superintend  the  mail.  This 
usually  falls  to  the  member  of  the  firm  who  has  a  ca- 
pacity for  detail  work,  which  all  lawyers  do  not  possess, 
and  who  has  habits  of  promptness  and  industry.  He 
should  be  early  at  his  desk,  so  as  to  open  the  first  (which 
usually  is  the  most  important)  mail  of  the  day,  see  that 
it  is  stamped  with  date  of  receipt,  and,  if  needing  prompt 
attention,  that  the  proper  files  are  produced,  if  any,  and 
placed  on  the  desks  of  the  members  of  the  firm  or  clerks 
whose  business  it  is  to  attend  to  them.  The  promiscu- 
ous opening  of  mail  by  any  and  all  members  of  the  firm 
is  a  pernicious  and  mischievous  practice.  There  should 
be  one  member  of  the  firm  who  has  in  his  grasp  more 
or  less  completely  the  entire  work  of  the  office,  and  this 
no  one  can  have  unless  he  sees,  if  but  to  glance  at,  all 
the  mail ;  w^hereas,  if  letters  are  opened  promiscuously 
and  carried  away,  no  matter  if  by  those  entitled  to  their 


288  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

possession,  no  one  possesses  that  grasp  of  the  situation 
that  is  needed.  He  need  not  see  the  outgoing  mail,  un- 
less, as  is  sometimes  required  of  him,  all  mail  goes 
through  his  hands  for  signature.  In  many  big  city  firms 
a  chief  clerk,  often  himself  a  lawyer  and  a  near-partner, 
is  intrusted  with  these  duties.  The  whole  point  is  to 
relieve  the  members  of  the  firm  whose  time  and  ability 
in  other  directions  can  be  more  profitably  used  and  the 
concentrating  of  the  whole  business  in  some  one  center, 
which  as  it  were  becomes  a  clearing  house.  It  is  that 
some  one  may  feel  the  pulse  of  the  entire  organization, 
so  as  to  detect  its  strong  and  weak  points,  and  to  sug- 
gest or  adapt  means  to  ends;  and  this  never  can  be  done 
with  a  haphazard  handling  of  the  correspondence.  But 
more  as  to  this  later. 

There  are  two  sorts  of  letters :  Letters  that  require 
something  to  be  done  about  or  concerning  them,  if  only 
an  acknowledgment;  and  letters  that  require  only  to  be 
filed.  The  latter  class  should  be  disposed  of  at  once. 
Being  largely  mechanical  work,  this  should  be  left  to 
employes.  A  fairly  intelligent  ofiice  boy,  stenographer, 
clerk  or  student  should  do  it.  It  is  not  your  work.  Let 
me,  where  I  can,  save  you  from  yourself.  Sufficient  for 
you  that  when  such  letters  are  read  you  indicate  by  a 
mark  that  they  be  filed,  and  that  you  place  them  in  a 
receptacle  on  your  desk  (not  in  your  desk — the  devil  in- 
vented drawers  and  pigeon  holes)  intended  for  "matters 
disposed  of,"  to  be  filed  at  the  close  of  the  day. 

All  letters  and  papers  as  opened  should  be  stamped 
with  the  date  of  their  receipt.  A  dating  stamp  made 
ready  in  the  morning  by  the  office  boy  and  placed  within 
your  reach  enables  you  to  do  this  without  loss  of  time. 
Parenthetically,  I  would  urge  that  all  envelopes  be  kept 
attached  to  important  letters.  They  are  a  part  of  the  cor- 
respondence. The  mailing  date  if  often  of  the  most  ma- 
terial consequence,  as  also  the  date  of  receipt.  Law 
suits  over  contracts  made  by  correspondence  have  been 


AND    HIS    WORK  289 

won  and  lost  by  evidence  in  the  shape  of  envelopes.  The 
filing  should  be  done  at  the  close  of  the  day.  Remember 
that  held-over  or  accumulated  work  of  any  kind  makes 
hard  work;  and  that  filing  is  a  clerk's  work,  not  yours. 
The  mail  requiring  attention  other  than  filing  is  of  two 
kinds — that  requiring  immediate  answer,  and  that  de- 
manding time  for  consideration.  It  goes  without  saying 
that  letters  requiring  immediate  answer  should  get  what 
they  require.  An  invariable  rule  should  govern  in  cor- 
respondence, KEEP  IT  BEHIND  YOU.  Nothing  tends 
to  so  clog  the  wheels  of  an  office  as  accumulated  corre- 
spondence. It  is  expensive  in  a  dozen  ways.  It  frets 
and  worries  at  both  ends  of  the  line,  and  reacts  on  the 
procrastinator,  greatly  to  his  injury.  Circumstances  oc- 
casionally prevent  prompt  action,  but  these  are  not 
nearly  so  frequent  as  we  like  to  imagine,  I  might  say, 
what  I  know  by  experience  to  be  true,  that  the  man  who 
is  prompt  to  get  his  work  done  has  much  greater  time 
for  leisure  after  the  work  is  done  than  the  procrastinator 
has  before  it  is  done.  The  latter,  too,  has  ever  the  evil 
ghost  of  it  before  him,  while  the  former  is  free  and  ready 
for  new  work  or  play. 

All  formal  letters  should  be  turned  over  for  answer 
to  office  help.  The  best  business  man  is  he  who  knows 
best  how  to  delegate  his  work.  The  lawyer  should  con- 
trol, but  should  get  as  far  away  from  the  machinery  of 
his  office  as  possible.  His  proper  function  is  not  the 
doing  of  the  merely  mechanical.  He  shows  his  head 
when  he  so  trains  his  assistants  (and  it  is  wonderful  how 
quickly  and  easily  they  take  to  responsibility)  that  he 
can  keep  himself  in  reserve  for  the  important  things  in 
hand. 

The  lawyer  should  take  pride  not  in  how  much  of  the 
details  he  can  handle,  but  how  little.  In  time  the  good 
manager  in  this  respect  will  find  how  really  much  he  can 
delegate  and  how  much  time  he  has  gained  for  reading 
and  study,  and  for  rest  and  recreation. 


290  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

I  want  to  make  the  point  hard  and  continuously 
throughout  this  chapter  that  the  lawyer  should  practice 
law  and  not  dawdle  or  trifle.  Some  men  are  so  consti- 
tuted that  howsoever  much  they  may  have  studied  and 
prepared  for  the  profession  they  can  never  be  more  than 
their  own  clerks.  They  ought  really  to  be  accountants 
or  bookkeepers  or  routine  men  in  banks  or  business 
houses.  They  work,  aye  they  slave,  and  they  never  get 
anywhere.  They  never  get  a  wide  view  of  themselves, 
their  work  or  the  world.  This  is  the  class  of  men  who 
continually  act  on  the  assumption  that  if  they  give  up 
any  part  of  their  labor  to  another  it  will  not  be  done  or 
will  be  done  wrong.  These  are  the  men  who  have  no 
time  for  vacations.  How  can  they  quite  when  they  are 
not  only  the  engineer,  but  the  furnace,  the  boiler,  the  mo- 
tive power,  the  belts,  the  flywheel,  the  shafts,  the  axles 
and  the  cogs — the  whole  thing. 

I  see  lawyers  prematurely  tired.  The  reason  is,  not 
so  much  that  their  practice  is  large  and  engrossing  as 
that  they  have  so  buried  themselves  in  details  and  woven 
such  a  web  of  treadmill  habits  about  them  that  they  can- 
not break  away  and  be  free  for  a  week  without  a  haunt- 
ing fear  that  their  business  has  gone  to  wrack  and  ruin. 
I  insist  that  scientific  management  will  do  away  largely 
with  the  slavery  of  office  work.  It  will  eliminate  the 
deadening  efifect  of  routine  by  lessening  its  amount,  rele- 
gating to  subordinates  some  of  what  is  left,  and  render- 
ing the  remainder  not  only  easy  of  accomplishment,  but 
pleasant. 

As  to  form  letters,  whether  sent  in  part  print  or 
wholly  in  writing,  I  have  to  say  that,  despite  the  antip- 
athy to  them  on  the  part  of  the  old  time  lawyers,  they 
are  infinitely  preferable  to  no  letters  at  all.  The  most 
exasperating  type  of  lawyer  is  the  one  who  fails  in  the 
little  courtesies  of  the  business,  thereby  giving  his  client 
trouble  and  expense  and  finally  alienating  his  confi- 
dence and  support.     Take  the  matter  of  acknowledge- 


AND   HIS   WORK  291 

ment  of  receipt  of  items  of  business,  instructions,  impor- 
tant papers.  ^ 

A   courteous  word   of  acknowledgment,   printed,   it 
you  please,  even  on  a  post  card,  and  with  a  printed 
signature,  and  addressed  by  a  subordinate,  has  the  effect 
to  satisfy  the  chent  until  such  time  as  further  word    it 
any,  may  be  reasonably  expected.     Some  lawyers  con- 
sider this  a  waste  of  time,  money  and  energy,  and,  think- 
ng  to  save  th,s  and  to  let  a  report  on  the  case  in  due 
time  suffice,  they  break  the  fundamental  rule  of  good 
busmess  that  requires  an  acknowledgement  of  material 
matters,  and  earn  a  reputation  for  inattention  and  inef- 
hciency,  which  may  not  really  be  deserved. 

ing.     There  are  few  cases  where  a  form  letter  can  be 
used    particularly  in  printed  form,  in  opening  a  corre 

printed  form  unless  there  are  special  instructions   but  a 
printed  request  for  a  report  on  business  somehow  carret 
with  It  little  weight,  though  there  is  no  reason  why 
should  not  receive  equal  consideration  with  a  written 
request,  as  the  latter  is  usually  after  a  cut  and  dr!:d 

I  quote  an  article  from  the  Chicago  Tribune  that  may 
lend  a  valuable  pointer  or  two.    It  runs  as  follows  ■ 

entering  Z7'  "*°  ^'   ''"'''"   '"'   correspondence 
entering  and  leaving  the  average  business  house  must 

tha    fall';  '""7"'"  ""'  "'^  """^"^^  °f  '^«-'  -«^"d 
nes    of   1  T"  5'"""  ^'^'^^  ""^  «'"h  the  same- 

ness of  the  replies  that  go  out  in  response.  Many  firms 
aim  to  handle  this  situation  to  some  extent  by  mean  so 
form  letters,  but  the  average  person  of  today  is  rarefy 
deceived  into  believing  the  form  letter  to  be  a  personal 
eommunication,  as  in  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  ase 
he  ^"^^"'P"°"  ■"-•'«1  -ith  a  typewriter  fails  to  match 
the  body  of  the  letter  in  style  and  size  of  type,  color,  and 


292  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

because  of  the  uiievenness  of  genuine  typewriting  and 
the  unvarying  regularity  of  its  imitation. 

"On  account  of  this  difficulty  many  firms  insist  upon 
personally  dictated  letters,  which  necessarily  entails  a 
great  deal  of  repetition,  but  results  in  each  case  being 
properly  covered  and  the  recipient  of  the  letter  knowing 
himself  to  be  in  receipt  of  a  personal  reply. 

"A  number  of  up-to-the-present  business  houses  have 
encouraged  their  correspondents  to  adopt  a  modified 
principle  of  the  form  letter,  a  plan  that  has  time-saving 
advantages,  specifically  handles  each  individual  case  and 
produces  letters  that  are  close  to  perfection  in  composi- 
tion. This  method,  referred  to  as  the  form  paragraph 
book,  is  simply  and  easily  adaptable  to  almost  any  line. 

"The  first  thing  necessary  is  to  study  and  analysis  of 
one's  correspondence.  Watch  your  letters  for  a  week 
or  so  and  classify  the  various  matters  which  you  re- 
peatedly take  up.  Owing  to  the  variance  of  correspon- 
dence in  each  firm  and  its  individual  departments  it  is 
practical  to  suggest  but  a  few  of  the  more  general  divi- 
sions into  which  most  letters  may  be  separated. 

"Letters  have  opening  and  closing  paragraphs,  para- 
graphs explaining  various  details,  such  as  quoting  prices, 
setting  forth  the  merits  of  certain  goods,  explaining 
house  policies,  handling  complaints,  and  so  on  innumer- 
ably, but  each  correspondent  handling  certain  classes  of 
work  can  readily  pick  out  at  least  fifteen  to  thirty  gen- 
eral matters  on  which  he  repeatedly  dictates.  Each  of 
these  general  divisions  will  have  more  or  less  variations, 
as  for  instance,  in  opening  paragraphs,  to  get  variety  one 
can  have  five  or  ten  equally  good  starts. 

"As  a  general  rule  the  variations  of  each  division  will 
not  exceed  ten.  Each  division  can  therefore  be  assigned 
ten  numbers,  or  twenty  when  necessary  in  individual 
cases.  "Starts"  will  be  assigned  0  to  9,  inclusive,  the 
next  division  10  to  19,  the  third  20  to  29,  and  so  on. 
Each  paragraph  under  each  head  will  be  given  one  of 


AND    HIS    WORK  293 

the  numbers  and  where  all  the  numbers  are  not  used 
the  remaining  numbers  may  be  held  in  reserve  for  later 
additions  under  these  heads. 

"Secure  a  good  sized  book  with  indexes  on  which 
can  be  written  the  character  and  key  number  of  each 
divisions,  as  "Starts  0,"  "Prices  10,"  "Policies  20,"  etc. 
The  form  paragraphs,  typewritten,  are  pasted  on  the 
right  hand  page  and  numbered  0,  1,  2,  3,  or  10,  11,  12, 
13,  etc.,  in  order  on  the  right. 

"When  dictating  you  will  refer  to  the  different 
groups  as  you  need  them  and  give  your  stenographer 
the  numbers  of  the  paragraphs  to  use  in  whatever  order 
you  desire.  Insert  specially  dictated  paragraphs  when- 
ever you  want.  When  the  stenographer  commences  to 
typewrite,  she  will  refer  to  the  book,  and  copy  the  para- 
graphs in  the  order  given  according  to  her  numbers. 

"If  you  have  a  number  of  letters  that  do  not  require 
special  dictation  do  not  call  the  stenographer,  but 
merely  write  the  paragraph  numbers  on  the  letters  in 
some  understood  place  and  hand  the  letters  to  her.  If 
the  volume  of  the  work  permits,  a  typist  can  handle  all 
of  these  letters,  saving  the  expense  of  a  stenographer. 

"The  beauty  of  the  plan,  aside  from  time  saving  on 
your  part,  as  you  will  soon  get  to  know  the  paragraphs 
by  number  without  referring  to  the  book,  and  on  your 
stenographer's  part,  for  she  can  write  better,  faster  and 
more  accurately  from  printed  work  than  from  uncertain 
stenographic  notes,  lies  in  your  turning  out  letters  that 
handle  each  point  in  your  best  style,  for  in  making  up 
the  paragraph  book  you  can  take  your  time  and  study 
out  the  best  worded  and  most  comprehensive  paragraphs 
in  your  power  to  create.  If  at  any  time  you  should  feel 
indifferent  or  tired,  your  feelings  will  in  no  wise  be  re- 
flected in  the  correspondence,  thus  always  assuring  uni- 
formly good  letters. 

"Constant  improvements  of  the  book  will  occur  to 
you.     The  plan  has  been  tried  and  has  proved  success- 


294  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ful.  It  can  be  modified  to  any  desired  form.  It  is  a 
private  secretary,  a  relief  from  monotonous  repitition, 
a  time  saver  and  producer  of  good  individual  correspon- 
dence economically." 

One  should  study  his  correspondence  with  a  view  to 
ascertaining  just  how  and  where  printed  forms  can  be 
used  without  detriment  to  his  business  and  having  as- 
certained this,  should  provide  himself  with  these  forms 
and  use  them.  For  two  or  three  years  I  dictated  to  a 
stenographer  every  bit  of  my  outgoing  mail.  How  much 
of  his  time  and  my  own,  and  how  much  of  our  energies 
I  thus  wasted  I  shudder  to  think.     I  wish  I  had  it  now. 

Again,  I  plead  with  you  to  teach  your  clerk,  stenog- 
rapher or  other  helper  how  to  use  these  forms  and  insist 
that  they  use  them  religiously  in  every  case  for  which 
they  are  intended.  Forms  are  time  savers,  and  doubly 
so  when  you  have  some  one  else  fill  them  out  and  send 
them. 

But  there  is  a  class  of  form  letters  you  should  not 
have  printed.  These  are  requests  to  your  sorrespon- 
dents  for  this  and  that,  reports  to  your  clients  at  well 
defined  stages  of  say,  a  collection.  You  can  easily  com- 
pose a  dozen  letters  that  will  meet  a  dozen  classes  of 
circumstances.  These  you  can  number  or  letter,  as  1,  2, 
3,  etc.,  or  A,  B,  C,  etc.  Your  clerk  or  stenographer  and 
yourself  can  readily  identify  a  certain  form  by  number 
or  letter.  You  can  use  these.  The  simple  designation 
orally  or  by  a  scratch  of  the  pen  on  a  letter,  and  you 
have  been  just  as  true  to  the  facts  and  as  true  to  your 
clients  as  if  you  had  called  your  stenographer  and  labor- 
iously dictated  a  letter,  which,  having  been  done  so 
often,  has  become  a  bugbear  and  is  put  off  as  long  as 
possible.  This  prepared  form  is  as  much  your  personal 
word  to  your  client  as  if  you  had  taken  pains  to  dictate 
it  anew,  if,  of  course,  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  facts. 
And  you  will  be  surprised  when  you  investigate  how 
really  much  sameness  there   is  in  the  business  letters 


AND    HIS   WORK  295 

you  write.  I  believe  that  in  the  average  general  law 
office  a  dozen  form  letters  will  answer  half  the  mail, 
and  surely  fourfifths  of  the  inquiries,  while  they  will  fit 
the  remaining  one-fifth  with  a  word  or  two  of  change  or 
in  addition. 

You  will  understand,  will  you  not,  that  I  am  trying 
to  get  you  to  save  time,  to  eliminate  waste  of  effort,  to 
get  results  for  you  by  the  shortest  routes,  and  inciden- 
tally to  win  for  you  the  good  opinions  and  the  further 
business  of  your  clients.  If,  then,  I  have  rid  your  table 
of  twenty-five,  forty,  fifty  per  cent  of  your  mail  by  the 
use  on  your  part  of  a  few  talismanic  signs,  I  have  earned 
your  gratitude  and  that  of  your  stenographer,  who  has 
taken  that  old  story  by  dictation  so  often  that  he  knows 
it  by  heart. 

And  now  I  hear  the  reader  who  is  a  country  lawyer 
without  stenographers  and  clerks  complaining  that  ail 
this  is  not  for  him.  It  is,  every  word  of  it,  for  him. 
There  are  really  very  few  lawyers  with  mail  to  answer 
who  are  wholly  without  assistants.  And  if  there  be  one, 
all  the  more  necessity  for  labor-saving  schemes  and 
devices,  such  as  the  printed  form  for  acknowledgements, 
etc.,  and  the  written  models  for  oft-recurring  letters.  If 
any  man  needs  a  scientifically  arranged  office  that  will 
economize  time  and  labor,  it  is  the  country  lawyer.  I 
know  this,  because  in  the  handling  of  a  large  forward- 
ing business  I  found  the  country  lawyer  most  prone  to 
sins  of  omission — all,  I  fancy,  because  what  he  must  do 
he  must  do  himself  and  by  hand. 

Let  me  give  you  an  instance  of  where  a  form  letter 
strikes  a  large  class  of  cases  and  where  the  dictation  of 
a  special  letter  becomes  an  unnecessary  nuisance. 

You  have  a  claim  for  collection.  The  debtor  is  in- 
solvent. He  has  made  repeated  promises  to  pay  and 
has  failed  to  do  so.  It  will  do  not  good  to  sue.  You  are 
trying  to  wear  him  out  and  will  continue  your  efforts 


296  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

to  get  the  money  and  will  advise  of  your  successs,  or  will 
return  the  item  when  you  deem  it  hopeless. 

You  have  many  such  items  of  business  if  you  are  in 
general  practice.  They  give  you  trouble  from  two  sides. 
The  debtor  troubles  you  and  so  does  the  client.  The 
client  is  the  one  you  desire  to  serve;  you  want  and  ex- 
pect  to  do  all  you  can  for  him.  He  asks  for  a  report. 
Your  form  letter  meets  this  case  as  it  has  met  scores  of 
others  and  will  continue  to  meet  other  scores.  It  need 
not  bother  you  to  promptly  reply.  Use  form  "A,"  you 
say,  and  you  dismiss  the  matter  for  the  time  being  with 
no  ugly  request  lying  on  your  desk  for  days,  giving  you 
tantrums  every  time  you  see  it  and  causing  you  to  swear 
"the  collection  business"  is  no  work  for  a  lawyer — and 
it  isn't  when  it  isn't  done  right. 

Then  there  are  forms  that  may  be  used  at  various 
stages  of  litigation,  settlements  of  estates,  etc.,  many  of 
which  will  occur  to  you  on  a  study  of  your  own  business. 

But  my  friend  says :  "Oh,  my  business  is  not  big 
enough  to  warrant  such  machinery."  Believe  me,  but  it 
is — just  big  enough.  It  is  already  proving  itself  too  big 
for  you.  When  you  answer  letters  promptly,  always  ac- 
knowledge receipt  of  important  communications,  report 
at  proper  intervals  your  progress  with  matters  in  hand, 
then  I  believe  you  need  nothing  of  the  kind  and  that 
your  business  is  not  big  enough  for  you. 

The  less  we  have  to  do  the  less  promptly  and  the 
less  ably  we  do  it,  and  this  largely  explains  the  cause 
of  the  dissatisfaction  we  often  hear  expressed  over  the 
country  lawyer,  who  is  often  the  best  sort  of  a  fellow, 
but  not  harnessed  up  right. 

Now,  let  us  see.  Up  to  date  we  have  date-stamped 
our  incoming  mail,  disposed,  with  little  more  than  a 
gesture,  of  letters,  etc.,  to  be  filed  as  requiring  no  further 
action  on  them,  acknowledged  receipt  on  printed  forms 
of  all  matter  that  can  be  so  acknowledged,  and  written 
answers  to  all  letters  to  which  our  form  letters  are  ap- 


AND    HIS    WORK  297 

plicable — that  is,  we  have  done  all  this,  SO  FAR  AS 
WE,  THE  LAWYER  IN  THE  OFFICE,  IS  CON- 
CERNED; and  all  in  a  few  minutes.  Then,  with  a  clear 
conscience  and  unimpaired  strength  we  take  up  the  real 
lawyer's  work  of  the  day,  while  our  subordinates  are 
doing  what  we  once  laboriously  did  or  didn't,  as  the  no- 
tion struck  us. 

But  let  us  go  on  talking  about  the  lawyer's  mail.  It 
deserves  full  treatment,  for  it  is  one  of  the  time  consum- 
ers and  wants  scientific  handling. 

As  to  communications  that  cannot  be  answered  at 
once,  or  do  not  require  immediate  answer,  care  must  be 
taken  that  they  do  not  get  buried  or  lose  themselves  in 
the  work  of  the  morrow.  Trusting  to  the  mind  calling 
up  an  item  at  its  proper  time  will  not  work,  even  in  an 
office  where  there  is  little  to  do.  Some  device  must  be 
resorted  to  that  will  work  automatically ;  something  that 
will  signal  the  eye  and  keep  on  signaling  until  the  need- 
ful thing  is  done — a  Banquo's  ghost,  if  you  please,  that 
will  not  permit  the  laggard  or  the  chronic  procrastinator 
to  rest. 

Many  devices  have  been  resorted  to  in  the  effort  to 
keep  things  up  to  date  in  the  law  office.  Perhaps  no 
lawyer  is  attempting  to  do  business  without  some  form 
of  a  "tickler." 

In  a  small  office  where  the  deferred  matters  are  few, 
a  calendar  diary  in  book  form  or  the  little  calendar  pad 
may  be  sufficient.  I  would  prefer  the  former,  because 
with  the  latter  the  leaf  for  the  day  is  usually  torn  off  on 
the  morrow  and  thrown  away,  while  with  the  book  form 
the  record  remains  and  serves  for  months  to  come  as  a 
sort  of  diary.  I  might  want  to  know  whether  on  a  cer- 
tain date  I  had  a  certain  matter  before  me.  Had  I  used 
the  pad  and  destroyed  the  leaf  I  could  not  have  the  evi- 
dence. The  book  form  of  tickler,  therefore,  particularly 
if  a  note  is  made  in  connection  with  each  memo  as  to 
how  the  matter  was  disposed  of,  serves  a  double  purpose-, 


298  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

A  file  of  such  tickler  diaries  running  through  the  years 
of  a  man's  practice  might  prove  of  considerable  value. 

The  card  system  is  invaluable,  save  from  the  one 
danger  of  the  careless  use  of  the  cards,  by  v^hich  valu- 
able data  may  be  lost.  On  the  desk  of  the  country  law- 
yer a  small  box  containing  cards  for  each  day  of  the 
year,  w^ith  month  guide  cards,  gives  him  right  at  his  el- 
bow a  tickler  for  every  single  item  of  his  business,  so 
that  he  can  be  absolutely  sure,  if  he  is  faithful  in  the  use 
of  it,  that  every  matter  in  his  office  will  come  to  his  at- 
tention at  some  date  that  he  has  fixed  as  the  proper  date. 
The  satisfaction  arising  from  this  knowledge  that  abso- 
lutely nothing  can  get  away  and  that  nothing  demand- 
ing attention  today  has  escaped,  and  that  his  full  duty 
to  himself  and  all  his  clients  has  been  done,  must  add 
zest  to  his  appetite  and  soundness  to  his  sleep,  if  it 
doesn't  add  peace  to  his  waking  moments  and  shekels  to 
his  purse. 

As  every  matter  in  the  lawyer's  office  has  or  should 
have  a  number  to  designate  it,  these  tickler  cards  need 
contain,  as  to  the  great  majority  of  items,  simply  num- 
bers. The  clerk  or  office  boy,  or  other  help,  can  be 
trusted,  on  beginning  the  day's  work,  to  read  the  tickler 
cards  for  the  day,  and  place  upon  his  employer's  desk  all 
files  relating  to  matters  requiring  attention  for  the  day. 
It  will  be  found,  in  running  over  the  files,  that 
some  represent  matters  that  have  been  settled,  as  having 
come  up  previous  to  the  date ;  some  have  been  affected 
by  intervening  events  and  can  be  shifted  to  a  future 
date;  others  will  be  found  put  too  early,  as  not  having 
ripened,  and  some  will  be  found  needing  the  day's  at- 
tention. 

Where  there  are  several  departments  in  the  office 
each  may  have  its  tickler  system,  each  department  pro- 
ceeding in  the  way  I  have  suggested.  The  collection  de- 
partment, above  all  others,  must  adopt  some  tickler  sys- 
tem, as  it  is  absolutely  essential  that  as  long  as  a  matter 


AND    HIS  WORK  299 

is  on  hand  it  should  be  in  hand.  So  long  as  it  is  not 
returned  to  the  client  or  not  settled,  it  must  be  treated 
as  alive  and  come  up  for  attention.  In  no  other  way 
can  a  collection  department  continue  to  exist  satisfac- 
torily to  its  proprietor  or  to  his  clients.  But  the  need 
is  just  as  great  in  the  departments  of  counsel  and  litiga- 
tion, for  here  mistakes  of  memory  are  ofttimes  fatal  to 
large  interests. 

The  card  system  requires  little  room.  It  is  contained 
in  small  compass.  The  cards  are  usually  so  confined 
that  the  whole  apparatus  may,  and  should  be,  put  into 
a  vault  or  safe  at  night.  It  is  a  cheap  device,  for,  once 
installed,  cards  are  all  that  need  be  purchased  to  keep 
the  system  in  operation. 

Now  with  the  mail  before  him,  the  lawyer  disposes 
of  some  matters  as  I  have  shown  in  former  pages,  and 
as  to  others  permitting  of  delay  or  requiring  it  he  makes 
proper  notes  on  the  appropriate  date  cards  in  his  "tick- 
ler" box  and  consigns  the  letters  or  documents  to  their 
proper  files,  or  has  new  ones  made,  if  the  matters  be 
new,  and  dismisses  them  from  his  mind,  knowing  that 
when  the  proper  time  comes  they  cannot  escape  him. 

A  roll-top  desk,  or  a  desk  of  any  kind  with  many 
compartments,  is  as  scarce  in  the  modern  law  office  as 
nursing  bottles  in  an  old  maid's  home.  These  desks  be- 
long to  the  day  of  high-top  boots,  the  wood-box,  the 
drum  stove,  the  sawdust-filled  wooden  cuspidor  and  the 
unwashed  windows. 

The  biggest  and  busiest  lawyers  work  in  the  midst  of 
the  least  muss.  I  remember  the  shock  I  got  once  years 
ago  on  entering  the  office  of  Wm.  A.  Way,  then  of  Way, 
Walker  &  Morris,  Pittsburgh,  now  Judge  \\^ay.  Noth- 
ing finer  in  New  York  or  Washington.  Rugs,  pictures, 
upholstered  furniture — big,  rich  and  heavy,  and  a  desk — ■ 
such  a  desk ! — all  top,  so  polished  there  was  no  need  of 
a  mirror  and  with  scarcely  a  paper  in  sight.  "But  where 
do  you  work?"'  I  exclaimed,  "I  want  to  see  the  machin- 


800  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ery."  And  then  he  took  me  through  a  door  into  a  li- 
brary, through  another  into  a  room  lined  with  shelves 
where,  numbered  and  in  order,  ranged  file  cases,  and 
dockets,  galore — everywhere  order,  neatness,  exactness, 
a  place  for  everything  and  everything  in  its  place ;  no 
muss,  no  confusion,  no  lost  motion  and  lost  temper  while 
looking  for  things. 

We  returned  to  his  sanctum  and  he  sat  down  to  his 
elegant  desk,  while  I  ran  my  fingers  over  its  surface  to 
see  if  it  was  real.  "Here's  where  I  work,"  he  answered, 
and  I  couldn't  help  feeling  that  work  done  amid  such 
quiet,  orderly,  well  appointed  surroundings  could  not  fail 
of  bringing  high-class  results. 

The  secret  of  this  firm's  success,  I  decided,  largely 
lay  in  system,  thoroughness  of  detail,  orderly  arrange- 
ment, economy  of  energy  and  time,  using  no  more  and 
no  less  of  either  than  necessary  to  do  the  work  well. 

I  was  in  the  office  some  time  ago  of  Edward  H.  Brink 
of  Cincinnati,  high  above  the  dust  and  din  of  the  city. 
Here  I  found  that  ideal  office  arrangement — nothing  in 
sight  but  what  impressed  the  visitor  with  the  owner's 
mastery  of  his  surroundings.  Again  there  was  the  flat- 
top desk,  a  thing  of  beauty  it  was,  while  close  at  hand 
was  telephone,  electric  call  bell,  dictaphone  and  all  the 
modern  office  time  and  labor  savers,  and  not  enough 
confusion  in  sight  to  fill  a  thimble.  Yet  I  know,  every  one 
knows,  that  Brink  is  a  busy  lawyer. 

Hugo  Seaberg  of  Raton,  N.  M.,  told  me  the  other  day 
that  for  I  don't  know  how  many  years  he  had  never  for 
a  day  failed  to  have  flowers  on  his  desk. 

Well,  that  isn't  necessary,  but  that's  a  blamed  sight 
better  than  a  stack  of  unanswered  mail,  a  dirty  blotter, 
four  ink  spots,  an  assortment  of  scraps  containing  memo, 
yesterday's  newspaper  and  the  stub  of  a  "twofer."  I 
would  rather  trust  my  work  to  a  man  who  makes  room 
for  flowers  on  his  desk  than  to  the  man  who  files  his 
pipe  with  his  week-old  mail  in  a  pigeon-hole,  or  closes 


AND    HIS    WORK  301 

the  hood  of  his  desk  every  night  over  a  mass  of  evidence 
of  his  lack  of  system,  promptness  and  order  that  should 
send  him  to  jail. 

Now,  all  this  elegance  I  speak  of  is  not  possible 
everywhere  all  the  time,  but  the  principle  of  the  thing 
can  be  put  into  practice  anywhere  and  all  the  time,  and 
scientific  management  requires  it. 

You  have  learned  the  difference  between  the  old  time 
factory  and  the  up-to-date  modern  factory — old  methods 
of  slovenliness,  lack  of  system,  loose  management,  waste 
of  time  and  material,  as  compared  with  the  new  methods 
you  see  in  such  plants  as,  and  there  are  hundreds  of 
them,  the  Kodak  plant  at  Rochester,  the  Postum  Cereal 
plant  at  Battle  Creek,  the  Schlitz  Brewery  at  Milwau- 
kee, the  Curtis  Publishing  plant  in  New  York,  the  Na- 
tional Cash  Register  plant  at  Dayton. 

Well,  your  office  is  a  work  shop.  You  are  turning 
out  a  product.  Factory  people  know  that  if  you  want  the 
best  out  of  people  you  must  surround  them  with  the  most 
favorable  and  happy  conditions;  so  there  is  cleanliness, 
sanitation,  fresh  air,  flowers,  gardens,  rest-rooms,  pic- 
tures, even  music  and  entertainment  furnished.  Yet  you 
think  you  can  do  your  best  work  in  a  dingy  office,  with 
bad  ventilation,  ill-smelling  lavatory,  unwashed  win- 
dows, dusty  books  and  furniture,  unkempt  desk,  un- 
sightly walls  and  furnishings.  You  can't  do  it.  You  are 
as  human  as  that  factory  hand  and  your  product  is  bound 
to  be  as  common-place  amid  such  conditions  as  your  sur- 
roundings are,  just  as  the  insect  takes  color  from  the 
flowers  it  inhabits  and  feeds  upon. 

You  cannot  make  your  office  too  pleasant.  You  fear 
your  clients  may  object  and  hold  you  too  prosperous? 
The  man  isn't  born  that  does  not  feel  flattered  to  be  able 
to  deal  on  equal  terms  with  a  gentleman.  For  every 
man  who  affects  a  sneer  a  score  will  take  note  of  the 
evident  prosperity,  and  somehow  or  other  prosperity 
has  a  way  of  begetting  itself.     The  first  thing  a  man  to 


302  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

do  if  he  would  be  prosperous  is  to  feel  and  seem  and 
appear  prosperous.    This  invites  prosperity. 

There  are  men  who  will  not  shine  their  shoes  for  fear 
a  client  may  take  offense.  The  men,  slaves  to  the 
worst  in  men  about  them,  soon  become  worse  than  the 
men  they  fear,  since  they  know  better. 

Men  generally  are  after  good  work,  work  that  is  well, 
cheerfully  and  promptly  done.  They  cannot  get  it  out  of 
third-class  men,  nor  amid  third-class  surroundings.  This 
they  know  instinctively. 

A  law  office  should  have  an  air  of  business  and  not 
look  like  a  smoking  or  lounging  room !  it  should  be  com- 
fortable, but  not  so  comfortable  that  callers  make  them- 
selves nuisances  by  their  too  frequent  and  too  long  con- 
tinued visits.  A  law  office  can  be  even  elegant  without 
being  a  lotus  bower. 

A  first-class  business  man  knows,  almost  by  instinct, 
how  to  get  at  the  essence  of  a  caller's  business  and  get 
rid  of  him  without  doing  violence  to  the  rules  of  polite- 
ness or  hurting  his  feelings.  Great  financiers,  great  cap- 
tains of  industry,  great  soldiers,  great  lawyers,  are  known 
by  this  quality,  among  others.  If  this  does  not  come  natu- 
rally to  you  I  would  suggest  that  you  cultivate  it,  for 
one  of  the  first  things  aimed  at  in  scientific  management 
is  getting  the  most  out  of  time ;  and  the  most  cannot  be 
gotten  from  time  when  it  is  being  spent  beating  about 
the  bush  or  loafing  around  a  subject. 

Many  a  man  leaves  his  office  at  night  remarking, 
"Well,  I  don't  know  what  I  have  done  today.  I  seem  to 
have  been  busy,  but  I  haven't  accomplished  much." 

The  cause  would  probably  not  be  hard  to  find.  A 
lot  of  time  has  been  spent  dawdling.  One  is  not  neces- 
arily  reaching  some  place  because  he  is  is  moving;  he 
may  have  the  St.  Vitus  dance. 

And  the  worst  of  it  is  that  this  habit  of  killing  time 
on  the  part  of  the  lawyer  is  usually  not  recognized  by 


AND    HIS    WORK  303 

him  as  a  habit.  He  doesn't  know  he  is  sinning;  he  actu- 
ally thinks  he  is  busy. 

And  another  bad  feature  of  the  case  lies  in  the  ex- 
ample, for  every  one  in  the  ofifice  quickly  drops  into  the 
time  killing  habit  from  seeing  it  so  successfully  worked 
before  his  eyes.  Show  me  a  lawyer  who  flirts  with  his 
work  and  I'll  show  you  a  clerk  who  calls  the  telephone 
girl  by  her  first  name,  a  stenographer  who  chews  gum 
and  watches  the  clock  and  an  office  boy  who  snores  in 
seven  languages. 

Now  let  me  see.  How  do  you  receive  your  guest? 
For  the  manner  of  his  entrance  will  much  determine  the 
manner  of  his  departure.  I  see  you  motion  him  to  a 
chair,  put  down  your  books  and  papers,  stretch  your 
legs,  perhaps  light  a  cigar,  first  handing  him  one;  you 
lead  in  the  conversation  and  you  talk  so  much  and  so  far 
afiield  that  the  caller,  who  may  have  had  to  screw  his 
courage  up  to  the  acting  point  before  he  decided  to  see  a 
lawyer  has  lost  courage  or  for  some  reason  changed  his 
mind. 

Now,  don't  think  this  is  a  fanciful  situation.  Many 
a  man  going  to  a  dentist  to  have  a  tooth  pulled  has 
changed  his  mind  before  he  got  into  the  chair  through 
some  interruption  that  carried  him  beyond  the  psycho- 
logical moment. 

And  many  a  law  case  has  gone  unstated  because 
courage  or  determination  or  whim  failed  during  the 
wordy  preamble  over  politics,  the  weather,  the  crops ;  or 
the  lawyer  has  made  the  interview  so  pleasant  that  the 
client  forgets  what  was  troubling  him. 

When  you  tip  back  in  your  chair,  elevate  your  feet, 
and  begin  asking  about  the  family,  its  a  sign  the  coast 
is  clear  for  a  long  run  with  the  wind,  and  you  can  bet 
the  caller  will  take  your  rocking  chair  and  light  up. 

Rocking  chair,  did  I  say?  In  a  law  office?  Pray  at 
what  hour  do  you  do  your  knitting?    And  I  have  even 


304  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

seen  a  couch,  and,  Heaven  forgive  me,  a  parlor  sofa  in 
a  laM?  office. 

You  perhaps  think  you  are  making  your  caller  (your 
prospective  client,  maybe)  feel  at  home  by  your  air  of 
genial,  carefree,  stay-all-the-alfternoon-and-come-up-to- 
the-house-to-dinner  manner,  and  that  under  the  influence 
of  this  he  will  divulge  the  easier.  Nay,  not  so.  Under 
this  influence  he  will  probably  suffer  a  lapse  of  memory 
or  remorse  of  conscience  and  decide  within  himself  to 
think  it  over  and  come  again,  telling  you  just  a  little  this 
time.  If,  however,  you  receive  your  caller  as  a  business 
man,  his  resolution  that  has  brought  him  thus  far  is 
strengthened,  and,  in  the  heat  of  the  telling,  you  get  it 
all — perhaps  more  than  he  intended.  You  listen  with 
the  air  of  a  business  man.  You  are  all  eyes  and  ears  for 
his  story,  and  you  let  no  irrelevances,  such  as  weather, 
crops  and  babies  turn  the  current  of  the  tale.  You  may 
have  been  long  and  cordial  friends,  but  now  in  your  office 
you  are  the  lawyer  and  he  is  the  client.  Social  and  club- 
house amenities  are  not  in  place  now. 

When  your  client  goes  away  after  such  an  interview 
he  doesn't  recall  it  as  a  social  but  as  a  business  affair, 
and  for  the  latter  he  is  much  readier  to  pay.  Then,  too, 
he  has  got  the  notion  you  are  a  busy  man,  and  that  is 
something. 

The  very  arrangement  of  your  office  furniture — par- 
ticularly your  desk  and  chair  may  invite  or  discourage 
familiar,  time-killing  discource.  If  when  your  client 
comes  in  you  leave  your  desk  and  you  both  sit  in  easy 
chairs  in  positions  such  as  you  would  assume  over  the 
wine  and  walnuts,  or  the  after-dinner  coffee  in  the  smok- 
ing room,  you  are  bound  to  consume  time  needlessly. 

I  once  sat  for  a  good  part  of  an  hour  cooling  my  heels 
waiting  for  a  signal  to  come  into  the  office  of  a  member 
of  a  busy  law  firm,  who  was  entertaining  clients,  and 
when  I  did  get  in  I  found  the  air  filled  with  tobacco 
smoke,  ashes  covering  a  handsome  carpet  and  the  lawyer 


AND    HIS    WORK  305 

himself  so  dull  and  headachy  that,  instead  of  broaching 
business,  I  insisted  on  lunch  and  the  open  air  for  the 
two  of  us. 

It  was  only  after  a  good  two  hours  he  revived  and 
was  something  of  his  real  self.  That  lawyer  had  no 
business  wrecking  himself  for  part  of  a  day  in  order  to 
be  social.  But  for  those  cigars  smoked  in  a  stuffy  office, 
dulling  sense  and  vision  and  moral  perception,  the  in- 
terview had  been  shortened  by  half,  I  am  quite  sure.  I 
am  a  smoker  myself,  but  the  rule  of  no  smoking  in  the 
office  can  be  and  ought  to  be  lived  up  to  by  the  lawyer 
for  this  reason,  if  no  other,  that  it  is  and  always  will  be 
an  invitation  to  sociability — and  a  law  office  is  for  some- 
thing else. 

I  find  in  my  office  that  having  my  desk  so  placed  that 
when  a  caller  is  talking  to  me  I  must  turn  about  in  my 
chair  to  see  him  is  bad  for  several  reasons.  I  can  not, 
in  the  first  place,  do  with  my  hands  the  little  tricks  that 
indicate  plainly  that  a  close  of  the  interview  is  desired. 
I  can  of  course  turn  to  my  desk  and  show  my  back,  but 
that  would  be  downright  rudeness.  Then,  too,  I  cannot 
prevent  some  men  from  looking  over  my  shoulder  and 
sizing  up  my  work,  even  reading  my  mail,  and  I  have 
had  them  so  familiar  as  to  throw  one  leg  fondly  over  the 
corner  of  my  desk  nearest  me  and  handle  my  papers 
while  talking.  Then,  too,  I  have  no  protection,  in  case  of 
physical  force  coming  in  in  my  direction,  which  hap- 
pened once  in  my  career. 

Then,  too,  I  am  too  much  disposed  to  rise  when  the 
caller  comes  and  to  take  another  seat  which,  as  I  have 
said,  is  often  translated  as  an  invitation  to  stay  to  tea. 
Also,  people  entering  my  room  in  my  absence  find 
it  entirely  too  easy  to  make  free  with  my  chair,  desk 
and  papers. 

These  and  other  reasons  led  me  long  ago  to  run  my 
desk  across  a  corner  and  set  up  my  throne  in  the  result- 


300  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ing  triangle,  with  my  face  towards  the  middle  of  the 
room  and  commanding  the  entrances. 

Now  I  face  the  enemy.  No  one,  friend  or  foe,  can 
take  advantage  of  me,  and  I  have  always  been  more  fear- 
ful of  friends  than  foes. 

When  a  caller  approaches  I  need  but  to  rise,  extend 
my  hand  across  the  polished  surface  of  my  mahogany, 
and  bid  him  be  seated  opposite  me,  where  all  my  papers 
are  upside  down  to  him,  where  I  can  finger  pencil,  pen 
and  paper  and  yet  look  him  straight  in  the  face,  where 
I  am  not  tempted  to  leave  my  seat  for  a  free  and  easy, 
and  where  in  any  one  of  a  thousand  ways  I  can  indicate 
my  desire  to  save  time,  his  and  mine,  without  being  rude 
or  too  direct.  He  cannot  draw  his  chair  up  close  to 
mine  or  sit  in  my  lap,  a  failing  with  some  people — not 
ladies  only — nor  can  I  elevate  my  feet  above  my  brains 
without  putting  them  out  of  the  window  or  covering 
my  desk  with  them.  In  other  words,  I  have  scientifi- 
cally arranged  myself  and  my  office  for  work,  and  in  so 
doing  am  saving  time,  money,  worry,  work  and  weari- 
ness of  flesh  and  spirit. 

I  have  yet  to  find  a  law  office  provided  with  a  proper 
waiting  room  and  approach.  In  some  of  the  best  ap- 
pointed offices  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere  I  have  been 
doomed  to  wait  my  turn  in  a  dark  passageway,  a  mere 
closet  within  the  door,  a  little  pen  outside  a  low  railing, 
with  nothing  to  do  but  think  and  nothing  to  see  but  two 
flies,  a  cockroach  and  the  office  boy ;  or  I  am  told  to  sit 
in  a  big  room  where  I  can  be  ogled  and  criticized  by  a 
lot  of  female  help. 

Why  it  is  I  do  not  know,  but  whenever  I  am  planted 
in  a  batch  of  typewriter  girls  I  get  nervous.  Believe  me, 
I  will  have  to  want  a  divorce  or  something  else  mighty 
hard  to  again  sit  out  a  half  hour  in  at  least  one  law  office 
I  know.  I  am  sure  I  was  the  subject  of  clandestine  re- 
marks from  a  battery  of  blondes  and  blondines  for  the 
full  thirty  minutes  that  I  waited  in  that  office. 


AND   HIS   WORK  307 

I  would  rather  sit  in  the  ante-room  of  a  dentist's 
office  waiting  to  have  my  mouth  filled  with  hot  mortar 
than  in  such  a  waiting  room  as  I  have  just  referred  to. 
There  may  be  others  in  the  dentist's  forecourt,  but  the 
others  have  their  own  business  to  attend  to  and  they 
look  it,  while  the  average  typewriter  girl  in  the  forecourt 
of  the  women  in  some  low  offices  has  no  business  to  at- 
tend to,  that  is,  while  I  am  there — and  the  worst  of  it 
is  I  can't  help  it. 

Just  as  sure  as  I  take  my  seat  in  one  of  these  type- 
writer beauty  parlors  provided  for  the  entertainment  of 
the  guests,  the  whole  force  begins  to  show  oft".  There 
were  six  of  these  in  my  last  rendezvous.  I  had  an  hour's 
wait.  I  could  have  broken  away,  but  the  lawyer  really 
wanted  to  see  me  and  to  see  me  impressed — and  he  did 
and  I  was.  While  I  sat  seemingly  dozing,  one  girl  made 
faces  at  her  machine — it  was  acting  up,  and  she,  not  be 
outdone  by  a  mere  machine,  was  doing  the  same.  She 
asked  another  girl  to  go  to  the  phone  and  call  a  type- 
writer man,  which  gave  the  other  girl  a  chance  to  talk 
funny  through  the  phone  for  the  benefit  of  all.  Another 
girl  giggled  the  hour  through  over  sotto-voce  remarks 
from  her  vis-a-vis,  all  the  time  smashing  the  keys  and 
chewing  gum  and  twice  tearing  up  the  sheet  she  had 
written  with  a  "Say,  but  ain't  that  the  limit"  air,  while 
a  fifth  girl  got  up  from  her  machine  four  times  and  went 
out — what  for  I  don't  know ;  I  didn't  follow.  The  sixth 
girl  was  foolish  enough  to  work. 

Now,  I  want  to  know  why  it  is  necessary  to  hide  all 
the  beauty  and  brains  of  the  office  behind  closed  doors, 
and  put  out  on  the  parapet  the  frowsly  headed  gum- 
chewers  and  boy-struck  time-killers  that  all  the  world 
may  know  that  here  at  least  is  lack  of  management,  lack 
of  system,  waste,  waste,  waste. 

Does  any  one  think  this  display  of  "help"  makes  an 
impression?  If  he  does,  he  is  right — and  the  impression 
is  bad. 


308  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Don't  you  know  that  every  time  a  door  opened  every 
one  of  those  six  girls  lifted  their  eyes  and  stared,  and 
when  two  men  entered  and  stood  chatting  all  but  two 
stopped  work  and  listened?  Honest,  they  did.  I  was 
keeping  tab.  I  have  a  way  of  doing  that.  It's  part  of 
my  business.  In  this  room  was  a  general  telephone. 
And  every  time  it  rang  six  pairs  of  hands  stood  suspended 
in  mid-air,  for,  goodness  knows,  it  might  be  Charlie. 
When  my  lawyer  friend  came  from  his  office  and, 
dismissing  his  lady  client,  turned  to  me  with  a  familiar 
greeting,  and  I  replied  in  kind,  I  felt  that  six  people 
could  testify,  if  need  be  in  the  future,  to  not  only  the 
warmth  but  the  exact  phraseology  of  his  welcome  and 
my  response. 

I  almost  wonder  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  insist 
that  such  machinery  of  the  office  be  put  out  of  sight — 
not  only  for  the  sake  of  the  visitor,  but  for  the  sake  of 
the  office  and  the  help  itself.  It  is  like  going  to  a  man's 
house  to  dinner  and  being  made  to  sit  in  the  kitchen 
among  the  pots  and  skillets,  talking  to  the  cook  and  dish- 
washer and  smelling  the  grease  until  the  feast  is  ready 
and  the  host  appears  to  welcome  you  in. 

I  am  no  slave-driver  and  never  was.  I  believe  in 
making  things  pleasant  for  the  office  help.  But  why 
make  a  reception  and  entertainment  committee  of  them? 
No,  put  them  out  of  sight  where  their  play  may  not  be 
hindered  by  phones  and  visitors  and  such  untoward 
things. 

On  entering  the  office  to  which  I  referred  I  desired 
to  make  inquiry  for  a  particular  member  of  the  firm. 
No  one  came  forward  to  meet  me.  No  one  inquired 
whom  I  wished  to  see,  or  sought  to  know  my  errand. 
Had  I  been  other  than  I  was,  I  might  have  been  em- 
barrassed, for  six  pairs  of  eyes  looked  in  my  direction 
but  to  this  composite  twelve-eyed  stare  I  bravely  made 
known  my  requests,  upon  which,  I  tell  the  truth,  the 
six  went  into  executive  session  and  discussed  the  three- 


AND    HIS    WORK  309 

fold  question:  If  Mr.  B.  in?  If  he  is,  is  he  engaged? 
Now,  isn't  it  a  fact  that  he  just  went  out?  The  weight 
of  opinion  being  in  favor  of  the  ins  I  was  asked  by  one, 
a  star-eyed  nymph,  to  take  a  seat,  while  another  in  a 
dinky  little  apron  and  a  dimple  disappeared  in  the 
direction  of  the  law  dispensary,  to  return  shortly  with  a 
request  to  wait;  which  I  did.  All  of  which  leads  me 
to  say : 

Every  law  office  should  have  a  suitable  waiting  room 
which  should  not  be  the  workroom  nor  in  sight  of  it. 
Some  one  should  be  stationed  in  or  near  this  room  who 
is  polite  of  speech  and  manner,  neat  of  dress,  attentive 
to  business  and  acquainted  with  office  conditions.  If  a 
visitor  must  wait,  he  should  be  accommodated  with  a 
comfortable  seat  and  something  to  read  or  help  fill  his 
time.  More  than  once,  when  I  have  finally  gained  en- 
trance to  a  busy  office,  I  have  spent  all  my  spare  time  in 
waiting,  and  I  am  vexed,  hurried  and  determined  not  to 
come  again,  whereas  if  my  stay  had  been  made  comfort- 
able and  easy  the  time  would  have  slipped  by  quickly 
and  my  patience  would  have  still  been  intact. 

I  have  not  borne  down  very  hard  on  the  labor  and 
time-saving  feature  of  this  divorce  of  the  workroom  from 
the  waiting  room.  I  have  had  most  to  say  of  its  impres- 
sion on  the  visitor.  I  do  not  know  which  feature  is  most 
important.  In  all  well  regulated,  modern  business 
offices  where  experts  figure  on  timesaving  and  the  get- 
ting the  best  out  of  men  and  material,  you  will  find  the 
order  I  have  described  as  existing  in  some  law  offices 
exactly  reversed — and  it  should  be,  from  the  standpoint 
of  economy,  aesthetics  and  scientific  management. 

Every  employe  of  the  office  from  the  head  clerk  to 
the  office  boy  should  be  inspired  at  all  times  to  do  his 
best  and  be  impressed  at  the  same  time  with  the  idea 
that  the  success  of  the  business  depends  on  him. 

The  employer,  realizing  the  necessity  of  enthusiasm 
and  earnestness  in  himself,  if  he  is  to  make  the  business 


310  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

grow  and  pay  profits,  should  also  know  that  enthusiasm 
and  earnestness  are  infectious.  Let  the  employer  shirk, 
and  the  employees  will  do  likewise.  Let  him  dose  or  put 
his  feet  on  his  desk  and  the  minute  his  back  is  turned 
his  employees  will  do  the  same.  Let  him  do  his  work 
slipshod  and  be  overheard  saying  "what's  the  odds,  so 
it  is  done,"  or  let  him  permit  his  work  to  accumulate, 
or  let  him  slight  difficult  things  for  easy  ones,  and  every 
mother's  son  and  daughter  in  the  office  will  learn  the 
trick. 

On  the  other  hand  if  the  lawyer  is  particular,  pains- 
taking, exacting,  prompt,  resourceful,  industrious,  he 
will  find  his  employees,  or  those  who  come  in  contact 
with  him,  unconsciously  copying  his  manners  and 
methods. 

My  first  experience  in  a  law  office  was  a  clerk  with 
a  firm  of  Cincinnati  lawyers.  The  senior  of  the  firm 
was  a  whirlwind  for  work.  He  entered  the  office  in  the 
morning  like  a  shot  out  of  a  gun.  Hardly  had  he 
snapped  "Good  morning"  and  before  his  hat  was  on  the 
hook,  he  had  given  everybody  in  the  office  something  to 
do  and  as  quick  as  the  order  came  it  was  being  carried 
out.  The  first  day  I  was  in  the  office  I  noticed  a  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  everyone  to  get  things  done,  to 
push  work ;  and  to  push  it  fast.  I  soon  saw  the  reason ; 
and  in  a  few  weeks  I  got  the  hustle  in  my  own  some- 
what sluggish  blood.  It  was  all  because  we  had  a  pace- 
maker in  the  senior  partner  and  felt  it  incumbent  on 
us  to  keep  up. 

Many  a  man  wonders  why  his  office  drags ;  why  an 
air  of  manana  pervades  it ;  why  there  is  not  the  aroma 
of  accomplishment  about  it.  Why  work  is  always  in 
the  doing  and  things  are  not  cleaned  up.  The  chances 
are  ten  to  one  the  fault  is  in  himself. 

Many  a  man  of  phlegmatic  temperament  never  sees 
the  trouble  in  himself  or  others.  There  is  no  hope  for 
such   an   office,   unless    someone   happens   along  and   is 


AND    HIS   WORK  311 

given  charge  who  possesses  the  temperament  that  will 
not  brook  dawdling  and  delays. 

Some  men  are  busy  on  occasions.  They  let  work  ac- 
cumulate and  some  day  under  the  inspiration  of  neces- 
sity of  a  guilty  conscience,  they  suddenly  descend  on 
that  pile  of  work  like  a  pile  driver  and  after  hours  of 
heroic  effort  it  is  done— late,  but  done. 

This  sort  of  an  example  in  the  office  is  responsible 
ifor  unanswered  letters,  unfinished  documents,  and 
troublesome  tasks  tucked  away  out  of  sight  in  the  em- 
ployees' desks  to  be  taken  up,  as  the  boss  takes  his  up, 
when  the  spirit  moves,  and  not  till  then. 

The  best  training  employees  get  is  that  which  they 
catch,  as  they  might  the  measles,  from  their  superiors. 
And  as  human  nature  is  Adam-bent,  the  worst  things 
are  easiest  and  quickest  copied. 

If  you  want  to  know  that  your  help  will  not  soldier 
on  you  when  your  back  is  turned,  let  them  see  that  you 
never  soldier  on  them  or  on  your  clients  and  correspon- 
dents. Mark  you,  for  every  neglect  you  are  guilty  of 
they  will  chalk  up  another  against  the  office. 

A  good  question  for  the  employer  to  ask  himself  is 
this :  Am  I  doing  for  myself  what  I  would  want  another 
to  do  for  me  if  he  had  my  job.  I  imagine  a  hundred 
times  a  day  he  would  say  no. 

I  do  not  believe  in  scolding  employees.  I  believe  in 
the  efficacy  of  good  example  and  of  kindness.  If  these 
do  not  effect  anything  on  a  particular  case,  I  find  a  way 
to  get  rid  of  the  employee. 

Care  should  be  taken  that  all  parts  of  the  office  are 
working  in  harmony.  Discord,  jealousy,  suspicion, 
tale-bearing,  underhand  meanness  should  be  rooted  out 
at  all  cost.  No  machine  works  well  where  the  bearings 
are  untrue,  where  the  parts  do  not  properly  dovetail, 
where  there  is  friction.  Fix  the  thing  if  you  have  to 
stop  all  the  wheels.  Call  the  people  before  you  and 
have  it  out  with  them.     Get  at  the  root  of  the  evil.     If 


312  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

there  is  a  trouble-maker  in  camp  let  him  go — make  him 
go.  Get  harmony  at  all  costs,  for  a  lack  of  it  spoils  ef- 
ficient work,  takes  pep  out  of  the  day,  makes  people  un- 
happy; and  unhappy  people  do  not  do  good  work. 

Surround  yourself  with  agreeable  people — people 
agreeable  to  you,  to  one  another,  and  to  the  visitor. 
Make  the  ofifice  not  a  social  gathering  but  a  cheerful, 
helpful  place  where  not  only  the  employees  are  inspired 
to  do  their  best  themselves  but  to  help  others  do  their 
best  and  where  visitors  feel  in  a  friendly  atmosphere 
and  at  ease. 

I  am  reminded  of  one  office  it  used  to  be  necessary 
for  me  to  visit  occasionally.  Invariably  I  was  met  by 
the  same  person — a  dame  of  serious  mien,  who  never 
knew  my  name  and  who  thought  she  had  done  her  whole 
duty  of  she  said,  "Take  a  seat,  Mr.  A.  is  busy.  He  will 
will  be  through  shortly."  The  first  few  times,  I  took 
the  seat;  it  was  outside  a  railing,  where  I  felt  like  a 
criminal  in  the  dock,  while  the  aforesaid  dame  pro- 
ceeded to  forget  me  and  where  I  could  overhear  my 
man  talking  baseball  or  politics  to  someone  within.  The 
office  force  was  absolutely  oblivious  to  my  predicament. 
No  polite  expression  of  regret  that  I  must  continue  to 
wait,  or  could  I  make  another  appointment  to  meet 
Mr.  A.  or  might  I  not  wish  to  see  someone  else,  or 
might  I  not  like  to  see  the  morning  newspaper.  I  was 
made  to  feel  like  I  do  when  I  sit  in  the  ante-room  of  the 
dentist's  office  with  the  toothache,  waiting  while  I  hear 
the  harmless  gossip  from  the  private  room.  I  hate 
everybody  about  the  place,  unless  the  little  girl  with 
the  white  apron  smiles  and  says,  "I  am  sorry  you  have 
to  wait,  I  think  the  doctor  will  be  through  in  a  moment." 
Then  I  thank  God  there  is  a  human  being  in  the  place. 

After  a  while  I  ceased  going  to  my  lawyer  friend's 
office  and  he  asked  me  once  why  I  never  visited  him  any 
more.     I  said  I  couldn't  stand  the  ordeal  and  that  if  he 


AND    HIS    WORK  313 

would  agree  to  employ  a  human  being  to  meet  me  and 
make  me  feel  welcome  I  would  agree  to  try  again. 

I  once,  years  ago,  visited  J.  H.  Hubbell  of  the  Hub- 
bell  Legal  Directory  Company  in  his  office  in  New 
York.  The  first  thing  he  did  when  I  entered  the  room 
was  to  go  the  whole  length  of  his  room  to  the  office 
safe  and  lock  it.  Then  he  greeted  me.  It  was  an  in- 
voluntary act  on  his  part  and  when  I  spoke  of  it  and 
assured  him  I  had  no  designs  on  his  life  or  property, 
he  laughed  confusedly  and  showed  plainly  it  was  a  total- 
ly unconscious  act,  so  far  as  it  related  to  me.  Well, 
I  do  not  like  to  enter  an  office  and  feel  that  I  must  be 
very  careful  not  to  disturb  some  one,  or  that  I  am  liable 
to  steal  a  hat  or  commit  murder.  I  want  to  feel,  the 
moment  I  enter,  a  consciousness  that  I  am  in  a  genial, 
friendly  atmosphere. 

This  leads  me  to  urge  that  everyone  who  enters  the 
office  door  should  be  made  to  know  that  whatever  his 
business  he  will  be  given  courteous  treatment.  Even  a 
beggar  or  a  book  agent  can  leave  your  office,  though 
without  a  red  sou  of  your  money,  feeling  a  little  better 
from  having  been  there. 

Nothing  ever  pleases  me  so  much  as  to  have  a  man 
tell  me,  and  it  often  happens,  that  he  enjoys  coming 
to  my  office ;  that  there  is  a  sense  of  welcome  about  it ; 
that  there  is  cordiality  in  the  atmosphere.  He  can  not 
compliment  me  more. 

I  think  it  quite  necessary  that  every  visitor  who 
comes  sees  some  one  in  authority — not  merely  a  door- 
attendant  or  an  office-boy.  Angels  have  been  known  to 
make  visits  in  very  homely  guise.  Every  man,  woman 
and  child  is  a  possible  patron  of  the  office.  The  poor 
debtor  who  comes  to  pay  a  dollar  installment  on  an  ac- 
count is  no  exception.  To  lead  him  up  to  a  barred  win- 
dow through  which  he  passes  his  dollar  and  gets  his 
receipt  with  no  word  of  human  kindness,  and  God  knows 
he  may  need  it,  is  to  deliberately  miss  the  chance  to 


314  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

make  a  friend — and  a  friend  is  a  friend,  however  lowly, 
and  sometimes  the  lowlier  they  are  the  better  friends 
they  are;  and  to  make  a  friend  may  be  to  make  that 
friend  or  that  friend's  friend  a  client.  I  have  seen  it 
happen  time  and  again. 

There  should  be  someone  to  say,  "Well,  Mr.  Smith, 
you  came  around  all  right.  I  knew  you  would,  Hope 
things  are  getting  better  with  you.  Keep  a  stiff  upper 
lip."  This  or  something  else  with  a  good  honest  ring  to 
it  sends  that  man  away  eternally  yours,  both  to  keep  on 
paying  you  and  to  do  you  a  favor  when  he  can. 

I  do  not  insist  that  this  sort  of  work  must  neces- 
sarily fall  to  a  busy  member  of  the  firm,  but  there  should 
be  someone  whom  I  will  call  the  "official  jollier,"  for 
want  of  a  better  title,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  see  that 
nobody  leaves  the  office  without  the  impression  that  he 
has  been  dealing  with  something  more  than  a  machine. 

RECEIVING. 

Mr.  William  Harrison  Smith  of  J.  Howard  Reber's 
office  in  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  most  efficient  offices  in 
the  country,  writes  of  an  office  system  employed  by  him 
as  follows : 

First,  every  single  item  of  business  as  received  in  the 
mail,  by  personal  call  of  clients  or  through  your  own 
personal  representatives,  should  be  carefully  scrutinized 
by  the  member  of  your  office  force  or  firm  who  is  at  the 
head — the  chief.  He  can  pass  on  the  same,  decide  as  to 
the  particular  necessity,  either  attend  to  it  or  pass  along 
to  the  individual  who  is  to  become  immediately  and  di- 
rectly responsible  to  the  chief  for  the  conduct  of  the 
particular  case.  This  for  the  large  offices  which  have 
many  employees. 

Have  a  printed  formal  acknowledgement,  and  an 
acknowledgement  only.  Don't  try  to  have  a  printed  re- 
port and  check  of  various  items,  such  as  "Suit  advised," 
"$5.00  costs  should  be  advanced,"  "Have  collected  be- 


AND   HIS    WORK  315 

fore,"  etc.,  etc.  The  weakness  of  such  a  form  is  too  ob- 
vious for  further  comment.  Send  out  your  plain  and 
simple  acknowledgement,  by  postal  card  if  you  prefer, 
but  my  preference  is  under  a  sealed  envelope,  and  fol- 
low up  as  speedily  as  possible  by  your  first  report.  Don't 
force  your  clients  to  inquire,  not  in  the  first  instance  in 
any  event.  That  is  hardly  excusable.  After  a  case  has 
been  pending  for  some  time,  an  inquiry  may  be  expected, 
but  never  at  the  outset. 

You  have  your  claim,  and  you  have  acknowledged  it. 
Let's  get  into  our  office  system,  to  follow  up  and  keep 
friendly  and  close  to  it  until  we  close  it  up  and  earn  our 
fee  and  satisfy  our  client.  The  very  first  thing  is  to  ex- 
amine our  defendant's  card  index  and  see  if  we  have  any 
other  claims  against  the  debtor.  If  so,  the  card,  which 
is  ruled  for  eight  names  and  bears  a  heading,  "Name," 
with  a  blank,  followed  by  "Address  (Town),"  and  is 
also  ruled  vertically,  the  headings  being  as  follows : 
"Number,"  "Date,"  "Amount,"  "Creditor,"  "Local  Ad- 
dress," "Disposition,"  "Date,"  is  taken  out  of  the  file 
and  placed  with  the  claim  so  that  it  may  be  properly  re- 
corded thereon.  If  we  find  no  previous  card  against  the 
defendant,  of  course  a  card  is  made  out.  "Number"  re- 
fers to  the  number  which  is  given  each  claim  as  it  is 
received  in  the  office.  "Date"  is  the  date  of  the  receipt 
of  the  particular  item.  "Amount"  is  the  amount  of  that 
claim.  "Creditor"  refers  to  the  creditor's  name,  which 
is  given  as  fully  as  possible,  also  the  local  address  of  the 
creditor.  "Disposition"  refers  to  the  final  disposition 
of  the  claim,  as  "Returned,"  "Paid  in  full,"  "Dividend," 
etc.,  and  the  date  when  the  matter  is  closed. 

This  information  is  for  our  general  file  so  that  we 
may  be  readily  informed  after  a  folder  is  passed  into  our 
old  closed  files. 

Next,  client's  card  is  taken  out  and  added  to  our  col- 
lection. Client's  card  is  likewise  headed  "Name"  and 
"Address,"  with  cross-rulings  heade  "Date"  and  "Num- 


316  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ber,"  and  accommodates  thirty-two  claims  on  each  card. 
We  merely  give  the  date  of  the  receipt  of  the  claim  and 
stamp  the  number  of  the  particular  claim  at  the  time 
we  stamp  the  defendant's  card  and  all  other  cards  and 
papers,  together  with  the  folder. 

After  we  have  our  defendant's  card  and  our  plain- 
tiff's card  we  then  make  up  our  folder,  which  is  quite 
simple  to  us,  but  is  rather  difficult  to  explain  in  the  few 
words  allotted  to  us.  We  show  on  the  front  of  the  folder 
virtually  all  of  the  information  possible.  On  the  upper 
upper  edge  we  have  the  numerals  1  to  31,  which  is  our 
diary.    We  use  Smith  Steel  Signals. 

We  follow  with  the  number  of  the  claim,  de- 
fendant's name  and  address,  plaintift"'s  name  and  ad- 
dress, and  have  a  blank  for  insertion  of  the  name  of  the 
party  from  whom  the  item  was  received — that  is,  the 
attorney  or  agency.  Below  we  have  blanks  for  a  de- 
scription of  the  particular  item — that  is,  "Draft,"  "Item. 
Account,"  "Statement;"  next,  a  blank  for  the  amount 
of  the  claim,  and  blank  costs  expended — that  is,  ad- 
vanced to  attorney  or  paid  out  in  cash  for  court  costs 
in  this  county.  Below,  we  have  a  blank  for  general  in- 
formation and  particulars  of  suit,  also  a  blank  for  refer- 
ence— that  is,  to  permit  the  insertian  of  the  name  of  the 
person  handling  the  case.  There  is  also  blank  for  trans- 
fer number,  so  that  when  the  folder  becomes  unwieldy 
we  can  make  a  new  folder  and  transfer  the  old  cumber- 
some folder  to  our  closed  files. 

We  have  a  form  following  substantially  the  same 
general  style  for  our  country  folder,  except  that  we  have 
blanks  for  banks  and  for  attorneys,  and  also  subdivisions 
with  vertical  rulings  headed  by  the  names  of  the  dififer- 
ent  Lists;  otherwise  the  front  of  the  folder  is  practically 
the  same. 

The  inside  of  the  front  of  the  folder  is  ruled  with  our 
ledger  ruling  and  enables  us  to  make  a  cash  transaction 
of  all  our  collection  accounts.      Wc    have    backed    up 


AND    HIS    WORK  317 

the  front  to  enable  us  to  tear  the  front  from  the  folder, 
retain  it  for  our  records  and  destroy  the  balance  of  the 
folder  and  the  useless,  worthless  papers,  after  the  lapse 
of  a  reasonable  length  of  time,  say  two  or  three  years. 

We  fasten  all  our  papers  in  this  folder  with  a  Magill 
fastener.  Until  about  a  year  ago  we  pressed  the  fasten- 
er through  the  back  of  the  folder,  but  we  experienced 
considerable  difficulty  through  tearing  our  folders  in 
pulling  them  in  and  out  of  files,  and  in  consequence 
we  had  a  small,  gummed,  circular  sticker  made,  with  a 
one-eighth  inch  perforation.  We  have  found  this  "plas- 
ter" works  very  nicely.  It  is  a  great  convenience  and 
does  not  materially  add  to  the  expense,  as  we  have  them 
made  in  large  quantities  and  they  only  cost  a  few  cents 
a  hundred. 

Now  we  have  our  claim  acknowleged,  our  defen- 
dant's card  made  up,  our  claim  recorded  on  client's  card, 
our  diary  clip  on  our  folder.  We  then  record  all  of  our 
daily  claims  on  one  sheet.  This  sheet  is  headed  as  fol- 
lows :  "Number"  (our  claims  are  all  recorded  in  nu- 
merical order),  "List"  (so  that  we  can  give  the  List 
from  which  we  receive  the  business  proper  credit),  "At- 
torney" (so  that  we  can  readily  trace  any  matter  if  there 
is  any  necessity),  "Plaintiff,"  "Defendant,"  "Amount  of 
Claim."  A  separate  list  is  made  up  for  each  day's  busi- 
ness, and  we  carry  them  along  for  about  a  month  in  our 
current  file  and  then  bind  permanently. 

We  have  now  completed  all  of  our  preliminary  work 
and  are  prepared  to  file  our  claim.  We  use,  as  a  matter 
of  convenience  and  safety,  vertical  steel  filing  cases. 
Now,  please  let  our  system  carry  the  load,  and  don't 
worry  lest  it  break  down  and  something  go  astray.  If 
the  system  won't  carry  the  load,  get  a  system  built  that 
will.  The  system  we  have  will  work  in  single  or  double 
harness  and  carry  a  large  or  a  small  load,  and  is  adapted 
to  a  large  or  a  small  business. 


318  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

FORWARDING. 

We  have  a  separate  attorney's  index  by  states  and 
towns,  and  the  card  is  substantially  as  follows : 

Ruled  to  permit  names  of  two  attorneys  on  each  card. 
The  main  heading  is  for  "Town"  and  "State,"  and  im- 
mediately thereunder  the  heading  "Attorney"  and 
"County."  The  space  for  second  attorney  merely  al- 
lows for  the  name  of  the  attorney,  the  town  and  state 
being  previously  shown.  The  card  is  also  vertically 
ruled  and  each  attorney's  subdivision  allows  spaces  for 
thirty-five  claims— seven  rows  and  five  in  each  row. 
We  merely  insert  the  number  of  the  claim  in  these 
blanks  and  absolutely  nothing  else.  On  the  right  hand 
end  of  the  card  we  also  have  other  vertical  rulings  and 
headings,  giving  the  names  of  various  lists  we  actively 
use,  such  as  American  Lawyers',  Martindale,  Mercantile 
Adjuster,  National,  etc.,  and  we  check  the  particular 
column  as  a  claim  is  sent  out  over  that  list. 

In  forwarding  claims  we  get  out  our  attorney's  card 
for  each  separate  claim,  noting  the  number  of  the  claim 
on  the  attorney's  card  and  nothing  else,  and  then  file 
again.  We  record  on  the  folder,  in  the  appropriate 
spaces,  the  date  and  the  name  and  address  of  the  attor- 
ney and  check  the  list — that  is,  the  Law  List.  This  is 
on  the  front  of  our  folder,  at  the  same  time  making  up 
our  attorney's  letter  of  commitment,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

Philadelphia 

PLEASE  OUOTE  THIS  NUMBER: 


Dear  Sir :  We  herewith  enclose  for  immediate  at- 
tention   Claim vs.    

Amount 

Please  give  this  your  immediate  attention,  acknowl- 
edging receipt,  and  report  condition  and  prospects  for 
recovery  with   promptness. 

If  claim   is  collectible,  kindly   return   at  once,   with 


AND    HIS    WORK  319 

full  report,  giving  reasons.  Should  you  represent  the 
debtor,  or,  for  any  reason  find  it  impossible  to  give 
prompt  attention,  return  claim  IMMEDIATELY.  If 
suit  is  deemed  advisable,  give  reasons  for  such  action, 
likely  ultimate  result  and  amount  required  for  ACTUAL 
costs.  DO  NOT,  however,  commence  proceedings  until 
authorized. 

You  are  to  retain  as  your  compensation  two-thirds 
(2-3)  commission  as  follows : 

50  per  cent  on  accounts  $10.00  or  less,  15  per  cent  on 
first  $300,  8  per  cent  on  excess  of  $300  to  $1,000,  4  per 
cent  on  excess  of  $1,000;  claims  $10  and  under,  mini- 
mum fee,  $5 ;  no  fee  to  be  more  than  one-half  the  claim. 

This  claim  is  sent  on  the  schedule  of  rates  approved 
by  the  COMMERCIAL  LAW  LEAGUE  OF  AMER- 
ICA. 

Absolutely  no  commission  allowed  except  on  collec- 
tion or  settlement  as  a  result  of  action.  If  paid  direct 
after  presentation,  you  will  be  protected. 

If  these  terms  are  not  satisfactory,  kindly  return  at 
once.  If  retained,  it  will  signify  your  acceptance  of  the 
same.  We  can  make  no  allowance  for  increased  com- 
pensation unless  specially  arranged  before  any  action  is 
take.  Yours   respectfully. 


This  claim  is  sent  over  the List. 

Our  folder  having  been  completed,  and  our  form  of 
commitment  made  up,  we  then  secure  any  valuable  pa- 
pers— and  we  keep  all  valuable  papers  filed,  under 
claim  number,  numerically,  in  safe — and  if  no  special 
supplemental  letter  is  required,  the  letter  of  commit- 
ment, claim  and  all  documents,  are  passed  along  to  the 
mailing  clerk.  When  a  special  letter  is  necessary,  the 
forwarding  clerk  passes  the  folder  and  all  data  to  the 
particular  individual  handling  the  matter,  for  letter  of 
explanation  and  instruction  to  attorney.  This  letter  is 
written,  and  back  into  the  system  goes  the  folder,  to 


320  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

resume  the  grind,  in  and  out,  with  diaries  and  letters, 
until  finally  paid  or  closed. 

At  this  time  it  is  appropriate  to  state  that  we  keep 
a  daily  sheet,  showing  the  number  of  claims  forwarded 
over  each  list  each  day.  This  enables  us  to  determine 
immediately,  any  day  in  the  month,  just  how  many 
claims  we  have  forwarded,  and  how  the  business  has 
been  distributed.  We  forwarders  appreciate  the  fact,  or 
at  least  many  of  us  do,  that  we  must  satisfy  our  lists, 
hence  this  sheet,  which  enables  us  to  keep  our  hand  on 
the  pulse  of  the  business  and  see  that  each  list  gets  its 
proper  share,  and,  if  possible,  more.  This  form  is  very 
simple.  It  is  headed  with  the  names  of  different  lists, 
which,  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  and  for  personal  reas- 
ons also,  we  now  designate  by  number,  as  1,  2,  3,  4,  etc. 
Down  the  left  hand  margin  we  merely  show  the  days  of 
the  month,  1  to  31,  and  at  the  right  of  the  List  columns 
we  have  a  column  showing  the  total  number  of  claims 
forwarded  over  all  lists  each  day  in  the  month,  and,  at 
the  extreme  right,  another  column  giving  the  total  num- 
ber of  claims  received  each  day  from  all  sources. 

SUGGESTIONS 

Do  not  return  claims  that  are  sent  you  on  unsatis- 
factory terms  until  you  have  notified  the  sender  as  to 
your  requirements,  advising  him  in  doing  so  that  no 
work  will  be  done  on  the  claim  until  you  receive  his 
answer.  Return  the  claim  if  he  fails  to  accede  to  your 
terms. 

Do  not,  on  receipt  of  business  sent  you  on  unsatis- 
factory terms,  acknowledge  receipt  of  the  business  say- 
ing that  you  will  not  accept  the  business  on  the  terms 
offered  but  on  certain  terms  that  you  make,  and  then 
proceed  to  do  the  business ;  but  rather  make  your  com- 
plaint as  to  the  terms  and  state  on  what  terms  you 
will  do  the  business  and  await  instructions,  for  if  you 
proceed  to  do  the  business  without  an  understanding 


AND   HIS    WORK  321 

as  to  the  terms  you  will  be  in  no  position  to  insist  upon 
your  terms  and  not  those  of  the  forwarder. 

Accept  no  business  on  the  contingent  fee  basis  that 
requires  work  of  a  strictly  legal  nature. 

If  the  condition  of  a  claim  chang-es  when  in  your 
hands,  so  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  bring  legal  action, 
do  not  proceed  without  first  advising  the  sender  of  the 
change  in  conditions  and  the  consequent  change  in 
terms. 

Where  a  claim  proves  more  difficult  than  usual,  as 
where  it  must  be  collected  on  the  instalment  plan  and 
your  work  must  run  over  some  period  of  time,  requiring 
periodical  attention,  get  an  arrangement  with  the  sender 
of  the  claim  for  a  better  fee  and  do  not  wait  until  after 
the  work  is  accomplished  before  asking  for  it. 

Make  a  rule  of  acknowledging  receipt  of  items  ot 
business  and  taking  steps  to  do  the  work  required  at 
once  on  receipt  of  same,  as  your  doing  so  will  often  save 
a  fee  in  cases  where  matters  are  settled  direct. 

Read  carefully  what  is  said  in  forwarding  letters  or 
blanks  accompanying  business  sent  you,  as  this  will 
often  save  you  a  fee,  and  will  often  also  permit  you  to 
save  your  self-respect. 

Refuse  all  business  sent  on  inadequate  fees,  or  gen- 
erally speaking  fees  less  than  those  recommended  by 
the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  at  its  1917 
convention,  and  do  not  become  possessed  with 
the  idea  that  by  refusing  a  piece  of  business  sent  at  low 
rates  you  are  possibly  losing  a  valued  client;  the  risk 
you  run  is  very  slight. 

Always  remember  that  the  client  is  in  a  better  state 
of  mind  to  allow  you  extra  compensation  and  extra 
liberal  terms  before  the  work  is  entered  on  than  he  is 
after  the  work  is  accomplished. 

Unless  you  have  tried  it,  you  will  be  surprised  to 
learn   how   easy   it  is   to  obtain   more   favorable   terms 


322  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

than  originally  offered  you,  in  case  of  a  matter  of  un- 
usual difficulty.    Most  men  are  reasonable. 

When  a  matter  passes  from  the  stage  of  a  simple 
collection  to  a  law  suit,  be  sure  to  have  an  understanding 
with  your  client  or  the  forwarder  that  the  fee  must  be 
paid  in  the  court  proceedings  whether  you  are  successful 
or  not;  otherwise,  there  is  the  danger  of  a  controversy 
as  to  whether  you  are  entitled  to  a  fee  in  case  of  failure. 

Many  attorneys  have  undertaken  to  make  reports 
on  all  claims  periodically,  as  for  instance  once  a  month 
or  once  a  quarter;  but  this  is  a  useless  waste  of  effort 
and  money.  Far  better  is  it  to  report  promptly  upon 
request  for  report  and  to  so  tickle  every  item  of  business 
in  the  office  that  a  report  will  go  at  an  appropriate  inter- 
val on  every  matter,  without  a  request  for  it. 

Do  not  complain  of  a  client  or  forwarder  asking  a 
report  from  you  on  a  matter  placed  in  your  hands,  no 
matter  how  unreasonable  the  request,  as  you  view  it. 
The  matter  is  his,  not  yours,  and  as  long  as  it  is  in  your 
hands  he  has  a  right  to  know,  at  any  time  he  may  desire, 
what  progress  is  being  made  with  it. 

Promptly,  on  the  continuance  of  cases  from  court 
term  to  court  term  or  the  going  over  of  a  case  from 
on  term  to  another,  notify  the  client,  as  the  chances 
are  he  has  made  note  of  the  fact  that  his  case  is  to  come 
up  at  a  certain  term  of  court  and  he  will  be  inquiring 
as  to  the  dispositon  of  it  in  due  time,  an  inquiry  which 
it  will  pay  you  to  forestall. 

Particular  attention  should  be  given  by  lawyers  to  re- 
porting to  their  clients  where  they  make  a  promise  or 
set  a  date  in  the  future  when  something  is  expected  to 
happen.  The  client  or  forwarder  nowadays  is  sure  to 
make  note  of  this  date  on  his  office  diary  and,  if  the 
lawyer  does  not  report  on  or  about  this  time,  he  is  sure 
to  obtain  a  request  for  report.  His  report  without  such 
request  makes  a  fine  impression  on  the  client,  and  the 


AND    HIS    WORK  323 

report  should  be  made  whether  there  is  anything  favor- 
able to  say  or  not. 

Make  a  point  of  answering  every  request  for  report, 
no  matter  how  foolish  the  request  may  seem  to  you  and 
how  uncalled  for,  since  by  so  doing  you  will  lessen 
the  number  of  subsequent  requests,  as  when  a  first  re- 
quest is  answered  it  is  not  necessary  that  a  second  and 
third  be  asked  at  once,  and  it  is  this  second  and  third 
that  gives  the  impression  that  you  are  being  annoyed 
by  clients  asking  for  reports. 

Practice  brevity  of  expression  in  reporting,  and  in 
letter  writing  generally,  since  many  a  lawyer  has  lost 
clients  and  business  connections  by  imposing  too  much 
on  good  nature  in  expecting  them  to  read  volumes 
where  pages  would  be  sufficient,  or  read  pages  where 
sentences  would  do. 

In  making  reports  on  matters  in  which  you  advise 
suit,  do  not  simply  say  that  you  advise  suit  but  give 
facts  on  which  you  base  your  advice,  as  forwarders 
generally  are  "wise  to  the  fact"  that  many  attorneys 
advise  suit  simply  for  the  few  dollars  there  is  in  the 
putting  of  the  matter  into  judgment,  or  for  what  they 
can  save  out  of  the  "advanced  costs." 

Treat  the  smallest  matter  in  your  office  with  the 
same  consideration  that  you  treat  the  largest  matter.  It 
is  entitled  to  good  treatment  as  long  as  it  is  an  item 
of  business  on  your  books.  When  you  are  through  with 
the  item  of  business  return  it. 

Do  not  make  expenses  to  your  client  that  are  not 
warranted  by  his  instructions,  as  for  instance  paying 
your  transportation  to  a  neighboring  town,  where  you 
have  not  been  directed  to  make  the  trip,  it  being  pos- 
sible in  all  cases,  excepting  very  unusual  ones,  to  com- 
municate with  your  client  and  get  his  permission  to 
make  expense. 


324  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

In  dealing  with  agencies  be  certain  that  the  agency 
sending  you  the  business  is  a  general  agency  and  not 
a  house  agency,  as  only  general  agencies  are  entitled  to 
a  division  of  fees,  it  being  assumed  all  the  time  that  a 
division  of  fees  is  proper. 

Where  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  whether  the  agency  is 
a  house  agency  or  not,  consult  the  Secretary  of  the 
Commercial  Law  League  of  America  before  remitting. 

v«**  If  the  Secretary  of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of 
America  cannot  inform  you  as  to  the  facts  regarding 
the  agency's  character,  remit,  retaining  the  whole  fee 
and  let  the  agency  produce  evidence  of  its  right  to  a 
rebate. 

If  a  forwarder  sends  business  without  requiring  a 
division  of  fees,  do  not  allow  the  division  unless  it  is 
afterwards  asked  and  evidence  is  given  of  the  for- 
warder's right  to  it. 

Where  you  have  received  business  from  an  agency 
that  you  thought  was  a  general  agency  and  that  in  its 
forwarding  blank  required  a  division  of  fees,  and  you 
accomplished  the  work,  and  before  remitting  you  learned 
that  the  agency  was  a  house  agency,  the  better  practice 
is  to  abide  by  the  contract  of  employment,  noting  the 
fact,  however,  that  the  agency  was  not  entitled  to  the 
division,  in  order"  to  be  put  on  your  guard  the  next 
time  you  are  employed. 

Another  way  of  determining  whether  or  not  the 
agency  or  attorney  is  a  house  agency  or  house  attorney 
and  not  entitled  to  a  fee,  is  by  examining  the  checks 
sent  to  such  agencies,  on  their  being  returned  to  you, 
to  discover  whether  or  not  these  checks  were  turned 
over  to  the  reputed  clients  and  cashed  by  them  or 
whether  they  were  cashed  by  the  agency  itself.  As  a 
rule,  the  house  agency,  being  a  department  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  merchant  or  manufacturer,  turns  over  checks 


AND    HIS    WORK  325 

and  drafts  received  by  it  directly  to  the  bookkeeper  or 
cashier  of  the  reputed  client,  after  being  endorsed  by 
the  agency,  showing  that  no  part  thereof  has  been  re- 
tained by  the  agency,  which  it  would  be  entitled  to  re- 
tain were  the  agency  doing  a  business  permitting  it  to 
charge  the  client  for  its  portion  of  the  remittance  and 
retain  the  charge  on  remitting,  which  is  the  usual 
method. 

Another  method  of  determining  whether  the  agency 
is  a  house  agency  is  by  a  study  of  the  wording  of  the 
letter  of  transmittal  of  the  claim,  and  the  terms  given; 
for  it  will  be  found  that  usually  where  the  terms  given 
are  as  high  as  twenty-five,  forty  or  fifty  per  cent  the 
agency  is  not  acting  as  an  independent  agency  but  is 
acting  as  the  client  itself,  since  general"  agencies  do  not 
make  a  rule  of  sending  out  business  on  these  fees,  even 
when  these  fees  are  allowed  to  them  by  the  clients, 
until  they  have  tried  the  attorneys  on  a  low  scale. 

Do  not,  in  accounting  for  the  proceeds  of  a  collection 
or  a  suit,  deduct  therefrom  the  costs,  expenses  or  fees 
in  some  other  matter.  If  you  are  in  doubt  as  to  whether 
they  are  going  to  be  paid  you,  notify  the  client  that 
you  have  his  money  in  hand  and  ask  for  the  priv- 
ilege of  retaining  what  is  due  you  in  both  matters.  If 
the  client  refuses,  you  are  then  in  position  to,  in  a 
measure,  protect  yourself. 

Account  to  the  client  for  the  attorneys'  fees  pro- 
vided for  in  a  judgment,  since  the  reason  for  the  adjudg- 
ing of  costs  and  fees  as  against  the  defendant  is  not  to 
reimburse  the  lawyer  but  to  reimburse  the  client.  In 
billing  to  the  client,  the  fact  of  his  receiving  a  judgment 
for  attorneys'  fees  the  defendant  has  had  to  pay  may 
be  taken  into  consideration  in  making  the  charge. 

Report  to  your  clients  promptly,  on  the  taking  of  a 
judgment,  as  to  the  court,  the  date,  the  amount  of  the 


326  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

judgment,  and  the  prospects  of  collection  by  execution, 
or  what  further  steps  you  deem  necessary,  if  any,  and 
by  so  doing,  favorably  impress  the  client  who  is  not 
accustomed  to  getting  this  information  excepting  after 
many  inquiries  or  much  delay. 

Get  the  habit  of  charging  fees  and  not  doing  work 
gratis,  and  the  further  habit  of  collecting  fees  promptly 
and  thus  making  your  clients  know  that  your  services 
are  considered  by  you  to  be  of  value. 

Where  convenient  or  possible,  without  too  much 
waste  of  time  and  effort,  make  payment  of  collection 
returns  to  your  client  in  person,  or  by  a  representative 
capable  of  talking  business,  as  the  presentation  of  a 
check  in  person  usually  awakens  memories  of  other 
checks  the  client  needs,  and  which  you  may  possibly 
assist  him  in  getting. 

Do  not  adopt  the  tabulated  form  of  printed  report,  by 
which  is  meant  expressions  such  as  "dead,"  "outlawed," 
"in  bankruptcy,"  etc.,  in  print,  which  in  reporting  you 
appropriately  check  mark,  since  this  sort  of  a  report 
does  not  bring  you  into  that  personal  touch  with  your 
client  that  you  require  in  order  to  keep  him  in  close  sym- 
pathy with  you  and  your  work. 

Write  your  report  on  a  worthless  item  just  as  if  your 
obtaining  of  a  client  depended  upon  the  kind  of  a  report 
you  were  making  on  this  particular  piece  of  business. 

Never  make  the  mistake  of  reporting  on  several  mat- 
ters in  one  letter.  If  you  have  a  filing  system  of  your 
own  you  know  the  trouble  that  such  a  conglomerate 
report  makes.  The  fact  that  you  make  such  a  report 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  you  yourself  have  no  ade- 
quate system  of  filing. 

Never  return  a  worthless  item  with  simply  the  state- 
ment  that  it  is  worthless  or  some  expression  that  is 


AND    HIS    WORK  327 

intended  to  convey  a  whole  story  in  a  word  or  two ;  for 
you  will  be  judged  just  as  much  by  your  report  on  a 
poor  piece  of  business  as  you  are  judged  by  a  report  on 
a  good  piece  of  business. 

Remember  that  a  piece  of  business  returned  promptly 
with  a  full  report  as  to  its  hopelessness  is  a  better  ad- 
vertisement of  your  efficiency  than  is  a  worthless  piece 
of  business  retained  unreported  on  from  month  to  month, 
bringing  needless  labor  to  all  parties. 

In  making  charge  for  the  taking  of  property  in  pay- 
ment of  a  claim,  do  not  base  your  fees  upon  the  usual 
fee  schedule,  but  charge  what  your  time  and  service 
were  worth  considering  the  results  you  obtained,  since 
the  measure  of  the  value  of  the  goods  reclaimed  is  not 
always  the  face  value  of  their  cost  as  charged  to  the 
debtor,  and  your  labor  may  be  disproportionate  to  the 
money  value  of  the  goods. 

Collect  all  fees  on  paid-direct  claims  at  once  on  your 
learning  of  their  being  so  paid  and  in  case  of  the  failure 
of  the  client  or  forwarder  to  pay  the  fee,  advise  the 
Secretary  of  The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America. 

Distinguish  between  fees  and  costs,  and  let  your  cli- 
ents know  that  you  so  distinguish ;  and  in  your  request 
for  advanced  charges,  be  sure  to  state  the  purpose  for 
which  the  money  is  asked,  either  as  an  advance  for  costs 
and  expenses  or  partly  for  costs  and  partly  for  compen- 
sation. Your  honesty  in  this  particular  will  have  its  re- 
ward. 

In  making  settlements,  give  an  itemized  statement  of 
fees,  costs,  and  expenses,  as  the  businesslike  appearance 
of  such  a  statement  impresses  the  client  with  your  hon- 
esty and  your  business  capacity ;  the  lumping  of  the 
charge  always  leads  to  suspicion. 

Remit  promptly  all  moneys  collected,  and  make  your 
remittances  as  often  as   possible  where  the  amount  is 


328  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

collected  in  installments,  as  every  time  you  send  your 
client  a  check  you  are  favorably  impressing  him. 

Make  no  commercial  reports  for  concerns  that  are  not 
well  known  to  you  as  honestly  endeavoring  to  compen- 
sate attorneys  making  such  reports,  in  the  way  of  good 
business  or  money. 

When  a  commercial  report  is  asked  for,  no  matter  by 
whom  it  is  asked,  get  your  money  for  it  in  advance  and 
do  not  send  the  report  with  a  bill ;  this  does  not  apply  to 
well-known  agencies  and  forwarders  who  have  a  well- 
earned  reputation  for  furnishing  business  to  their  attor- 
neys who  report  for  them. 

If  you  are  in  a  small  community  where  there  are  not 
over  a  dozen  or  a  score  of  commercial  attorneys  make 
an  arrangement  with  them  from  time  to  time  by  which 
all  can  co-operate  in  furnishing,  each  to  the  other,  the 
names  of  parties  asking  for  free  reports  and  the  names 
of  parties  on  whom  reports  are  being  asked,  by  which 
means  the  lawyers  of  your  town  can  readily  discover 
what  concerns  are  imposing  on  the  lawyers  by  asking 
reports  on  one  and  the  same  individual  from  a  number 
of  attorneys  at  the  same  time,  and  promising  to  each 
that  in  consideration  of  their  making  the  reports  they 
will  get  what  business  the  inquirer  has  in  that  town  or 
locality. 

If  you  make  commercial  reports  at  all,  keep  carbon 
copies  of  all  that  are  made  and  have  a  system  of  filing, 
properly  indexed,  so  that  further  calls  for  reports  on  in- 
dividuals once  reported  on  can  be  made  with  little 
trouble.  Many  commercial  attorneys  have  complete  files 
on  the  merchants  of  their  towns  so  that  they  can  do 
commercial  reporting  with  a  small  outlay  of  time  and 
expense,  and  these  reports,  thus  indexed,  filed  and  read- 
ily accessible,  become  an  asset  to  the  business,  which, 
if  it  is  ever  offered  in  the  market  for  sale,  is  of  real  value 


AND    HIS    WORK  329 

and  often  is  the  only  tangible  property  a  lawyer  has  to 
sell. 

If  you  do  reporting  at  all,  do  it  right.  A  slovenly  re- 
port is  worse  than  none  at  all  in  its  reflex  effect  on  the 
lawyer  making  it. 

Buy  representation  where  you  can  do  so  at  a  reason- 
able price  with  all  of  the  best  law  lists  and  directories, 
and  under  no  consideration  accept  representation  even 
when  offered  free  in  the  worthless  class,  as  representa- 
tion in  these  is  liable  to  do  you  more  harm  than  good, 
and  your  name  will  be  used  by  publishers  of  these  lists 
to  induce  others  to  pay  money;  and  by  this  means  you 
are  doing  them  a  direct  injury  and  keeping  alive  worth- 
less enterprises. 

The  getting  of  the  business  of  most  of  the  leading 
agencies  means  the  getting  of  representation  in  the  right 
law  lists,  since  most  of  the  leading  agencies  use  some 
favorite  law  list,  though  here  and  there  an  agency  has 
its  own  attorney  representatives  that  have  handled  its 
business  for  years  and  become  so  well  known 
to  the  agencies  that  use  them  that  no  matter  what 
lists  are  used  they  favor  these  particular  attorneys  where 
they  have  business  in  their  localities ;  as  a  rule,  how- 
ever, the  lists  are  so  active  in  their  soliciting  business 
from  the  leading  forwarders  (and  so  often  is  it  made 
an  object  to  the  agencies  to  use  certain  lists)  that  the 
agency  list  of  special  representatives  is  of  minor  im- 
portance. 

Do  not  pay  to  a  law  list  more  for  representation  than 
your  fellow  lawyers  in  the  same  city  are  paying,  with  a 
view  to  obtaining  some  advantage  over  them  in  the 
way  of  the  position  of  your  name  in  their  list  or  some 
other  special  inducement. 

Do  not  permit  a  law  list  solicitor  to  obtain  money 
from  you  on  the  statement  that  while  he  cannot  sell  you 
representation  in  his  list  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it 


330  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

is  already  contracted  for,  he  will  (for  the  money  paid  or 
promised  to  be  paid)  use  his  influence  with  certain  cli- 
ents or  on  certai^n  occasions  to  obtain  business  for  you, 
notwithstanding  your  name  is  not  to  be  published,  as 
this  is  a  fraud  on  the  lawyer  who  has  bought  the  repre- 
sentation and  is  entitled  to  the  full  measure  of  what 
the  law  list  and  solicitor  can  do  for  that  locality. 

Where  representation  cannot  be  had  in  desirable  law 
lists  by  reason  of  existing  contracts  with  other  lawyers, 
it  is  well  to  file  with  the  lists  desired  a  statement  of 
your  facilities  and  your  desire  for  representation  when 
a  vacancy  takes  place.  Most  law  list  publishers  are  quite 
ready  to  note  such  applications  and  give  them  consider- 
ation when  the  necessity  for  a  change  arises. 

Never  permit  yourself  to  overbid  a  fellow  practitioner 
in  obtaining  representation  in  law  lists  or  in  seeking  the 
cientage  of  an  agency  or  a  business  house,  or  indi- 
vidual ;  change  your  occupation  rather  than  stoop  to 
cut-rate  or  underhand  methods. 

Often  a  law  list  profits  the  lawyer  when  he  labors 
under  the  impression  that  it  does  not  pay.  The  law  list 
is  often  able  to  produce  evidence  to  show  that  the  rea- 
son for  the  lawyer's  unwillingness  to  renew  is  being 
based  on  an  impression  only,  he  having  kept  no  records 
and  being  dependent  on  his  memory,  which  can  hardly  be 
expected  to  serve  over  a  year's  time.  The  result  is  that 
the  law  list  is  damned  for  a  condition  which  really  does 
not  exist. 

The  main  points  to  consider  in  determining  whether 
one  should  take  representation  in  a  law  list  are  the 
character  of  the  book  itself  as  showing  respecta- 
bility, responsibility,  reliability,  on  the  part  of  the 
publishers,  a  fair  reason  for  the  representation  being 
vacant,  a  showing  of  earnest  endeavor  on  the  part 
of  the  publisher  to  circulate  his  book  in  the  proper 
channels,  a  recognition  by  him  of  the  rights  of  the  law- 


AND   HIS    WORK  331 

yer  as  shown  by  his  keeping  out  of  all  enterprises  that 
seek  to  play  the  client  against  the  lawyer,  a  price  com- 
mensurate with  the  possibilities  of  business  in  the  par- 
ticular locality,  which  latter  can  be  most  fairly  judged 
by  the  lawyer  himself,  and  a  fair  contract  in  the  mat- 
ter of  fee  rates  and  time  of  payment  for  the  represen- 
tation— these  being  in  favor  of  the  list,  the  lawyer  may 
fairly  take  the  chance ;  but,  as  a  further  precaution,  he 
should  obtain  the  opinion  of  the  Commercial  Law 
League  of  America,  provided,  of  course,  he  is  entitled 
thereto  by  reason  of  a  membership. 

Pay  no  money  in  advance  to  law  list  solicitors,  unless 
you  know  the  solicitor  and  his  publication  well,  and  the 
reason  he  gives  for  wanting  money  in  advance  is  reason- 
able; for,  as  a  rule,  the  request  for  payment  in  advance 
is  a  sure  "ringer"  for  a  worthless  proposition. 

Pay  no  attention  to  checks  or  facsimiles  of  checks 
shown  you  by  law  list  solicitors  as  being  money  paid 
them  by  other  attorneys  well  known  and  highly  re- 
garded ;  for  you  cannot  know  under  what  conditions  and 
circumstances  these  checks  were  given,  since  they  are 
often  given  with  a  drawback  or  under  conditions  that 
are  not  offered  to  you. 

Under  no  circumstances  should  a  member  of  the 
Commercial  Law  League  of  America  make  a  contract 
without  consulting  the  tabulated  statement  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  members  of  the  League  with  all  law  list 
publications,  which  tabulated  experience  is  published 
and  distributed  by  the  League  to  its  members  once  every 
two  years. 

Do  not  fail  to  give  credit  to  law  lists  for  not  only 
the  direct  business  that  it  furnishes  to  you,  but  also 
for  the  indirect  business,  or  the  business  that  flows  from 
other  business  and  which  would  not  have  come  to  you 
had  it  not  been  for  the  original  business  that  came  over 
the  list. 


333  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Do  not  judge  of  a  law  list  by  the  names  of  its  repre- 
sentatives in  your  state ;  this  very  largely  is  deceptive, 
and  particularly  so  with  new  publications,  since  in  great 
part  new  publications  are  simply  copies  of  old  ones,  and 
naturally,  in  copying  lists,  publishers  do  not  copy  the 
poorer  lists. 

Beware  of  agencies  and  law  lists  that  come  to  you 
with  propositions  by  letter  where  the  printed  matter,  in- 
cluding the  letterhead,  has  no  individual  names  and  no 
street  or  office  address,  nothing  being  used  but  a  post- 
office  box,  and  sometimes  not  even  that*  for  under  such 
conditions  as  a  rule  the  proposition  is  a  house  agency 
and  the  name  will  not  be  found  in  either  the  city  or  the 
telephone  directory  of  the  city  where  the  concern  is  sup- 
posed to  be  located,  the  mail  going  direct  to  the  mer- 
chant for  whom  the  agency  is  supposed  to  be  acting. 

Do  not  judge  a  law  list  by  the  bearing  or  address  or 
manner  of  speech  of  the  solicitor ;  some  of  the  worst 
frauds  in  the  law  list  business  are  represented  by  some 
very  "smooth"  artists. 

Do  not  judge  of  the  age  of  a  law  list  by  its  published 
volume  and  number,  as  many  a  new  proposition  has  been 
born  in,  say,  its  tenth  volume,  the  purpose  of  the  de- 
ceitful representation  being,  of  course,  to  present  an  air 
of  age  and  responsibility  to  which  the  publication  is  not 
entitled. 

The  age  of  a  book  may  often  be  determined  by  a 
glance  at  the  type,  for,  as  a  rule,  the  names  in  law  lists 
are  kept  standing  from  year  to  year  and  only  new  type 
is  inserted  where  there  is  a  new  representative,  with  the 
result  that  the  list  gives  a  somewhat  uncertain  or  mot- 
tled appearance,  some  names  being  darker  than  others 
and  often  appearing  to  be  in  a  blacker  faced  type.  The 
fact  is  the  old  names  have  run  through  several  editions 
and"  the  type  has  become  worn,  whereas  the  new  names 
have  run  through  but  one  edition  ;     so  that  where  the 


AND   HIS    WORK  333 

type  is  uniform  througiiout,  the  ehances  are  that  the 
list  IS  an  absolutely  new  one;  but  this  is  not  always  ex- 
actly true  because,  from  time  to  time,  the  older  lis^s 
put  on  an  entirely  new  dress  of  type  from  start  to  finish 

Do  not   pay  for  representation  in  law  lists  that  are 
eontroled   by  collection  and  commercial   agencies   tha 
play  the  commercial  class  againjj  the  lawyer  class. 

Do  not  put  any  confidence  in  p^positions  made  you 
by  law  hsts  to  the  efifect  that  if  the  representation  does 

■  Z„!7/°"  '.'I""'  ''''■  >""^  -Ascription  will  be  co" 

nued  free  of  ch'arge  for  a  further  period,  as  this  propo- 

■  t^^t  th'  ''™""  '°  '^  "'  "'°^'  ^^="  ^  -"^  -bterfu^e 
to  get  the  money.  ^ 

Do  not  put  confidence  in  a  lavish  display  of  claim 
coupons  shown  you  by  law  list  solicitors,  as  there  b 
nothmg  to  prevent  these  law  list  coupons  representing 
old  and  worthless  claims  that  have  been  sent' over  hf 
hsts  m  quesfon  after  other  lists  have  had  a  try  at  them 
as  the  poorer  class  of  lists  make  the  practL  of  so-' 
ic.tmg  from  forwarders  the  second  or  third,  or  the  even 
fourth,  try  at  their  claims;  coupons  on  s^ch  business 
look  as  good  as  tf  the  business  were  fresh  and  had  neve 
before  gone  over  other  lists. 

Put  no  confidence  in  facsimile  letters  shown  you  by 
law  .s  sohctors  shown  for  the  purpose  of  proving  to 
you  that  someone  has  received  business  out  of  the  list 
smce  any  law  list  can  obtain  such  letters  from  lawyers' 
"ho,  by  some  happy  circumstance,  have  been  privileged 
to  receive  a  stray  item  of  good  business.  ^ 

lofllTr.T,^^'""'  '".''""'  ^'^°""  >'™  by  solicitors 
ZZZ  '^"''''""""^  ^""^  "'"•'"'^  '°  'he  prospective 
^alue  of  a  new  venture,  as  experience  and  observation 
have  shown  that  these  letters  are  nearly  always  written 
by  someone  who  is  not  a  disinterested  party 


334  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Do  not  pay  money  to  law  lists,  excepting  to 
such  as  are  of  known  value,  without  obtaining  informa- 
tion as  to  the  proposition  from  the  Commercial  Law 
League  of  America,  provided,  of  course,  you  are  a  mem- 
ber of  that  organization. 

Do  not  make  contracts  with  law  lists  without  know- 
ing w'hom  you  succeed  in  the  representation  and  the 
reason  for  his  quitting,  unless  you  know  the  publication 
to  be  of  real  value  and  have  reason  to  believe  that  a 
change  of  representation  was  not  because  of  any  fail- 
ure of  the  list  to  produce  results. 

Make  no  contracts  with  law  lists  that  provide  that 
business  sent  over  them  shall  be  transacted  on  a  fee 
schedule  lower  than  that  recommended  by  the  Commer- 
cial Law  League  of  America  at  its  1917  convention. 

Make  a  rule  not  to  buy  representation  in  new  direc- 
tories and  law  lists,  as  under  the  present  conditions  no 
new  law  list  in  the  field  stands  any  chance  of  producing 
business,  the  field  being  already  overcrowded. 

Support  freely  and  liberally  the  law  lists  that  are 
known  to  be  doing  a  reputable  business,  and  do  not 
judge  of  their  value  to  you  by  the  experience  of  a  few 
months  or  even  of  a  year,  as  the  value  of  a  good  list  to 
its  subscriber  or  representative  is  cumulative  in  its 
nature. 

The  lawyer's  office  should  be  near  the  court  house, 
the  post  office,  and  the  business  center,  generally;  and 
it  should  be  in  a  building  known  as  reputable  and  free 
from  fly-by-night  enterprises  and  second  and  third-rate 
concerns ;  particularly  should  it  be  in  an  office  building 
where  other  well-known  and  well-reputed  firms  are 
located,  it  being  suicidal  to  locate  in  an  office  building 
recognized  as  "cheap"  and  tenanted  by  questionable 
firms,  one  being  known  by  the  company  he  keeps  in  this 
line  of  work  as  in  every  other. 


AND    HIS    WORK  335 

The  time  was  when  lawyers  thought  that  it  was  bet- 
ter suited  to  their  employment  and  made  a  better  im- 
pression upon  their  clients  if  their  offices  were  kept  in 
a  careless  manner,  the  old-time  law  office  being  a  pic- 
ture still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  many  of  the  older  mem- 
bers of  the  profession;  whereas,  nowadays,  the  success- 
ful lawyer  is  known  by  his  well-kept  office  and  his  own 
well-groomed  appearance.  Slovenliness,  in  both  par- 
ticulars, is  now  considerably  below  par. 

Office  arrangements  and  surroundings  should  be  as 
convenient  and  pleasant  as  possible,  as  dark  rooms,  un- 
pleasant odors,  bad  air,  blank  dirty  walls,  low  ceilings, 
carpetless  floors,  old  and  dirty  furniture,  all  have  their 
effect  on  the  minds  of  those  surrounded  by  them.  Good 
light,  good  air,  polished  furniture,  rugs,  pictures,  even 
flowers  tend  mightily  to  a  satisfied  office  crew  and  to 
efficient,  sympathetic  and  intelligent  work. 

Keep  the  machinery  of  the  collection  department  and 
the  office  generally  out  of  sight,  and  this  particularly 
applies  to  typewriting  machines  and  their  operators,  to 
files,  and  to  the  paraphernalia  of  a  collection  depart- 
ment. 

See  that  some  one  is  deputed  to  meet  those  who  enter 
the  office  and  that  that  some  one  is  affable  and  intelli- 
gent enough  to  take  advantage  of  emergencies  and  deal 
tactfully  with  all  comers. 

So  arrange  the  ante-room  or  reception  room  of  the 
office  that  visitors  may  not  attract  the  attention  of  the 
office  help  but  may  be  comfortably  seated  and  pleasantly 
employed,  as  by  furnishing  the  latest  newspapers  and 
periodicals. 

So  arrange  the  office  that  employes  having  work  in 
common  will  be  in  close  touch  and  that  harmony  may 
prevail,  without  which  there  can  not  be  success. 


336  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Above  all  else,  there  must  be  harmony  in  the  office; 
and  if  this  harmony  is  wanting  in  any  particular,  the 
trouble  should  be  cut  out  at  any  price,  as  no  more  can  in- 
harmonious office  help  dovetail  their  work  to  advantage 
than  can  machinery  with  parts  unadjusted  and  produc- 
ing friction. 

The  collection  department  proper  and  the  law  depart- 
ment proper  should  be  divorced  from  each  other  as  far 
as  possible,  by  the  use  of  separate  rooms,  separate  en- 
trances, separate  files,  separate  indexes,  separate  tick- 
lers and  diaries,  and  in  the  correspondence  a  difference 
should  be  made  in  the  tint  of  the  paper  used,  so  that  at 
a  glance  the  letter  may  be  recognized  as  belonging  to 
the  department  from  which  it  emanated. 

Give  painstaking  care  and  thought  to  the  matter  of 
your  office  stationery,  as  this  stationery  speaks  for  you. 
It  is  your  face,  dress,  figure  and  expression  to  those  who 
do  not  see  you  in  person. 

Study  and  compare  the  best  looking  letters  you  re- 
ceive from  your  correspondents  in  order  to  adopt  the 
best  form  of  address  and  ending,  the  best  system  of 
paragraphing  and  margining,  the  best  form  of  letter- 
head, etc.,  etc.,  always  being  careful  to  use  good  paper 
and  good  type,  and  a  well-inked  ribbon,  as  nothing  is 
more  exasperating  than  being  compelled  to  read  with 
great  difficulty  a  poorly  constructed  letter  on  poor  paper, 
written  on  a  typewriter  whose  ribbon  is  worn  to  a 
frazzle. 

There  is  no  improvement  probably  that  can  be  made 
on  the  office  file  or  holder  that  holds  the  correspondence 
without  folding  and  contains  on  its  front  page  a  printed 
form  for  the  insertion  in  pen  or  pencil  of  all  of  the  items 
of  information  regarding  the  claim  and  its  history,  and 
what  is  done  with  it  up  to  its  final  disposition. 


AND    HIS    WORK  337 

Do  not  study  to  see  how  much  system  or  machinery 
you  can  install  in  the  collection  department  but  how 
little,  as  simplicity  conduces  to  economy  and  to  effi- 
ciency, and  the  more  steps  to  be  taken,  the;  more  move- 
ments to  be  made,  and  the  more  papers,  Idles,  indexes, 
etc.,  to  be  handled,  the  greater  the  expeiise  of  time, 
money  and  effort. 

Remember  that  the  two  things  most  needful  are  that 
the  papers  in  the  case  and  records  shall  be  together  and 
leadily  found,  and  that  the  matter  itself  shall  come  to 
the  attention  of  the  proper  party  at  the  proper  time;  that 
all  the  machinery  of  the  office  doing  more  than  this 
is  largely  superfluous. 

A  record  should  be  kept  of  all  business  received  and 
the  sources  from  which  it  comes;  particularly  should 
this  be  done  in  connection  with  the  law  lists  to  which 
the  firm  contributes  for  representation.  A  simple  blank 
book  with  the  name  of  each  list  at  the  top  of  page, 
with  space  beneath  for  the  title  of  the  case  received,  its 
final  disposition  and  the  fee  obtained,  is  all  that  is 
needed.  At  the  close  of  the  year,  when  solicited  for  re- 
newal, the  lawyer  has  the  opportunity  of  determining, 
at  least  to  a  degree,  what  value  the  list  has  been  to  him ; 
but  he  must  not  forget,  as  I  have  warned,  that  he  should 
give  credit  for  indirect  results,  which  can  be  deter- 
mined from  a  careful  study  of  the  cases  that  have  come 
into  his  hands  over  the  lists,  and  a  following  out  of  the 
results  of  the  acquaintance  brought  about  through  the 
list's  introduction  to  him  of  the  client  and  the  debtor,  as 
in  general  every  case  means  the  addition  of  two  per- 
sons to  the  lawyer's  list  of  business  acquaintances. 

A  diary  or  tickler  system  is  absolutely  essential  in 
every  office,  even  though  it  be  a  one-man  office,  and  this 
diary  or  tickler  should  carry  at  some  date  every  single 
item  of  business  in  the  office,  excepting  such  as  are  dead 
and  consigned  to  oblivion. 


338  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

On  the  desk  of  every  member  of  the  staff  whose  work 
is  charged  to  the  clients  should  be  placed  every  morning 
a  blank  divided  into  hours,  and  dated,  afterwards  to  be 
signed  by  the  party  filling  it  up,  on  which  may  be  noted 
visitors  calling  and  a  brief  word  as  to  their  business  and 
as  to  the  amount  of  time  employed  and  as  to  any  charges 
that  should  be  made;  also  expenditures  made  and  for 
what  purposes,  and  to  whom  to  be  charged,  which 
blanks,  gathered  up  in  the  evening,  should  be  given  to 
the  bookkeeper,  or  the  file  clerk,  or  the  managing  part- 
ner who  will  adopt  some  system  by  which  these  blanks 
may  be  referred  to  at  any  time  in  the  future  when 
wanted  or  may  be  used  by  the  charging  clerk  or  the 
bookkeeper. 

Carbon  copies  of  all  letters  should  be  made  and  filed 
in  their  appropriate  places,  and  nothing  should  be  left 
merely  to  the  memory  of  employer  or  employes,  so  that 
on  the  dropping  oft"  by  death  or  otherwise  of  a  member 
of  the  firm  or  an  employe,  his  successor  may  take  up 
the  work  where  it  was  left  without  inconvenience  and 
loss. 

Where,  as  is  generally  the  case,  the  same  sort  of  a 
letter  has  to  be  frequently  written,  a  model  letter  cover- 
ing the  subject  should  be  composed  with  care,  and  this 
model  letter  used,  giving  it  a  number  or  a  letter  identify- 
ing it  to  the  typist  or  stenographer,  thus  saving  time  and 
effort  at  dictation. 

Every  piece  of  work  in  the  office  should  have  its 
number  and  its  place,  and  proper  indexes  (card  indexing 
preferred)  should  be  installed,  enabling  the  Workman 
to  expeditiously  find  it  and  all  that  pertains  to  it. 

Indexes  of  several  kinds  should  be  a  part  of  the  office 
machinery.  There  should  be  an  index  of  debtors,  showing 
how  many  and  what  claims  are  received  against  every 
debtor  represented  on  the  books;  an  index  of  clients. 


AND    HIS    WORK  339 

showing  every  claim  that  has  ever  been  received  from 
every  cHent  on  the  books,  and  an  index  of  law  lists  or 
directories  showing  every  piece  of  business  received 
over  such  lists  and  directories. 

The  manager  or  managing  clerk  of  the  Collection  De- 
partment and  the  managing  partner  in  charge  of  the 
Court  Department  of  the  office  should  each  have,  at  his 
hand,  all  indexes  of  his  department  so  that  he  need  not 
move  from  his  office  chair  to  refer  to  numbers  and  direct 
as  to  files. 

All  indexes  should  be  moved  into  safety  vaults  or  fire- 
proof safes  at  night ;  and  all  live  files  should  be  kept  in 
fire-proof  receptacles. 

Purchase  the  standardized  forms  and  appliances  ad- 
vertised by  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America. 

I  have  no  financial  interest  in  the  dictaphone,  but  my 
earnest  advice  to  the  office  having  much  correspondence 
is  to  use  this  modern  device  for  quick  work. 

Discard  dockets  for  collection  records,  pigeon-holes, 
the  old-style  letter  copying  press,  and  substitute  therefor 
the  card  system  of  records,  the  flat  top  utility  desk,  and 
the  carbon  copy. 

See  that  the  face  of  your  claim  folder  contains  in  plain 
words  the  directions  of  the  forwarder  or  client  and  any 
special  agreement  or  arrangement  as  to  how  the  matter 
shall  be  handed,  and  particularly  as  to  fees,  if  the 
fee  agreement  is  other  than  the  usual  one  in  such  mat- 
ters. 

The  claim  folder  should  contain  a  brief  statement  un- 
der appropriate  dates  of  everything  done  in  handling 
the  matter,  so  that  the  correspondence  itself  does  not 
have  to  be  read  in  order  for  the  party  taking  up  the  file 
to  understand  its  proper  status. 


340  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

The  letterheads  of  the  legal  department  and  the  col- 
lection department  should  be  constructed  on  different 
plans,  it  being  preferable  that  the  stationery  used  in  the 
legal  department  should  carry  nothing  more  than  the 
firm  name,  the  location,  the  names  of  the  partners,  while 
the  collection  stationery  should  contain  this  and  more, 
as  the  name  of  the  manager  of  the  department,  the  tele- 
hone  number,  the  number  of  the  matter  referred  to  in 
the  correspondence,  statement  of  specialties  and  refer- 
ences; though  in  any  case  the  letterhead  should  not  be 
cumbersome  or  overloaded. 

The  commercial  attorney  should  make  a  point  of  be- 
ing as  useful  a  man  as  possible  in  his  community,  and 
in  so  doing  he  will  ally  himself  with  all  public  institu- 
tions and  organizations  and  all  societies  that  have  for 
their  purpose  the  general  uplift  of  the  community, 
though  it  can  not  be  expected  that  he  will  become  a 
"joiner"  to  the  extent  that  this  would  seem  to  advise ; 
yet  the  greater  number  of  persons  that  he  comes  in  con- 
tact with,  the  greater  will  be  his  opportunity  to  build 
up  and  maintain  his  business. 

The  mere  belonging  to  organizations  and  public  en- 
terprises is  not  enough  to  warrant  the  expense  of  one's 
time  and  money  and  effort ;  there  is  something  more 
that  is  needed,  that  is,  the  active  participation  on  his 
part  in  the  proceedings  of  such  organizations  and  bodies, 
so  that  he  may  become  known  in  a  way  not  only  to  be 
helpful  to  his  fellow  men  but  also  helpful  to  himself 
in  gaining  the  esteem  and  patronage  of  his  fellows. 

Nothing  is  of  more  value  to  the  commercial  lawyer 
in  obtaining  recognition  in  societies  and  organizations, 
generally,  as  an  education  in  the  practice  of  parliamen- 
tary law  and  procedure. 

Get     a    working    agreement    with     the    commercial 
lawyers    of    your    town    or    city    by    which    there    may 


AND    HIS    WORK  341 

be  an  interchange  of  information  as  to  house  agencies, 
unfair  forwarders,  piratical  reporting  schemes  and 
worthless  law  list  propositions,  as  only  by  some  such 
co-operation  can  you  and  your  fellow  lawyers  hope  to 
save  the  money  that  you  are  losing  in  fees  and  worth- 
less investments. 

Notify  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  of 
every  enterprise  that  is  not  on  the  square ;  or  that  you 
have  good  reason  to  believe  is  not  fair. 

Send  out  no  business  to  a  fellow  lawyer  without  ad- 
vising him  at  the  ?ame  time  as  to  what  steps  have  pre- 
viously been  taken  in  the  matter  sent,  thus  setting  the 
good  example  and  helping  to  bring  in  the  day  of  fair 
methods  and  efficient  service. 

Keep  a  full  record  of  the  date  of  the  outlawing  of  all 
claims  on  the  books,  and  through  a  tickler  system  notify 
clients  well  in  advance  of  their  outlawing  so  that  they 
may  direct  you  as  to  the  obtaining  of  judgment  or  tak- 
ing of  other  proceedings,  and  by  so  doing  add  consid- 
erably to  your  income. 

Make  every  piece  of  so-called  worthless  business  in  the 
ofifice  valuable  in  producing  other  business,  either  in  the 
way  of  adding  to  the  circle  of  your  business  acquaint- 
ance or  in  the  way  of  impressing  clients  with  the  full- 
ness and  promptness  of  your  reports. 

In  hiring  assistants  in  the  commercial  law  office,  the 
personnel  of  those  employed  should  be  considered ;  as 
a  rule,  young  women  make  better  routine  clerks  than 
young  men.  Very  often  a  young  woman  is  found  who 
develops  a  wonderful  talent  for  this  line  of  work.  Many 
an  ofifice  will  introduce  you  to  a  young  woman  who 
has  been  able  to  take  entire  charge  of  its  commercial 
work.  But,  for  direct  dealing  with  clients  and 
debtors,  young  men  are  desirable,  preferably  young 
men  who  have  grown  up  in  the  oflficc,  who  understand 


342  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

the  spirit  of  the  business  and  know  the  views  of  those 
who  conduct  it  and  understand  their  relations  with  their 
clients.  In  particular  should  the  personnel  of  those  who 
manage  departments  be  carefully  studied,  as  upon  their 
conduct  and  deportment  depends  the  success  of  the  busi- 
ness, since  employes  learn  to  imitate  and  copy  the  ac- 
tions of  those  over  them. 

All  mail  should  be  sent  out  of  the  office  at  least  twice 
a  day,  at  noon  and  at  night,  and  oftener,  if  possible,  as 
frequently  (in  cities  particularly)  the  mailing  of  letters 
at  noon  enables  them  to  reach  their  destination  a  day 
sooner  than  if  the  letters  were  held  until  night. 

Envelopes  containing  important  letters  should  be  at- 
tached to  letters  and  filed  with  them,  as  ofttimes  the 
post  mark  on  the  envelope  makes  a  deal  of  difference. 
Much  trouble  and  not  a  little  litigation  have  arisen  over 
the  question  of  the  time  of  the  receipt  of  a  letter. 

All  dead  files,  or  all  files  on  matters  disposed  of, 
should  be  taken  from  the  live  files  and  placed  in  their 
numerical  order  in  a  morgue  to  be  kept  for  a  few  years 
and  then  destroyed. 

The  stenographic  help  in  an  office  will  bear  study.  It 
is  not  every  stenographer  that  can  be  more  than  a  mere 
machine.  There  is  a  typist-stenographer,  however,  that 
can  be  obtained  who  can  readily  work  into  the  spirit 
and  the  plan  and  purpose  of  the  business  so  as  to  be- 
come effective  in  more  than  the  mere  taking  and  tran- 
scribing of  notes ;  and  it  is  this  sort  of  employe 
that  should  be  sought  in  the  law  office,  as  great  relief 
from  routine  and  worry  can  this  be  saved  to  the  heads 
of  the  office  and  heads  of  department,  that  is  needed  for 
a  higher  class  of  work  than  the  mere  routine  requires. 

Use  the  telegraph  freely,  as  no  medium  of  intercourse 
brings  more  sure  and  prompt  responses,  and  the  expense 


AND    HIS    WORK  343 

of  telegraphing  becomes  usually  a  mere  bagatelle  in  com- 
parison with  the  results  obtained. 

Get  away  from  stereotyped  forms  of  letters  in  corre- 
spondence excepting  where  the  correspondence  is  pure- 
ly formal,  since  nothing  pays  better  in  the  long  run 
than  a  friendly  and  personal  tone  in  business  commu- 
nications. 

Never  be  guilty  of  writing  sarcastic,  or  scolding,  or 
ill-humored  letters,  no  matter  what  the  provocation, 
since  these  invariably  react. 

The  psychological  effect  of  a  self-addressed  stamped 
envelope  on  a  more  or  less  reluctant  correspondent 
should  not  be  overlooked,  since  the  cost  of  a  postage 
stamp  is  inconsiderable  in  comparison  with  the  value  of 
a  reply,  if  the  reply  be  of  any  value  whatever. 

Never  permit  yourself,  nor  another,  if  you  can  help  it, 
to  speak  disparagingly  of  the  commercial  law  specialty 
and  that  part  of  it  known  as  the  collection  business;  but 
know  that  it  is  an  honorable  and  necessary  employment, 
and  that  it  is  up  to  you  to  honor  or  disgrace  it. 

All  important  documents,  all  commercial  paper,  all 
contracts,  and  all  papers  other  than  routine  correspon- 
dence, should  be  kept  in  separate  receptacles,  properly 
indexed  and  under  fireproof  cover. 

In  engaging  assistants  in  the  office,  a  shrewd  lawyer 
will  see  to  it  that  they  are  such  individuals  as  can  com- 
mand some  little  business  of  their  own,  or,  at  least,  have 
an  acquaintance  or  have  influence  among  worth-while 
people. 

Wages  and  salaries  should  be  increased  from  time  to 
time  in  an  office,  in  order  to  engender  a  spirit  of  service 
and  of  co-operation  and  build  up  a  permanent  staff, 
since  nothing  is  so  harmful  to  the  law  office  as  a  con- 
stant change  of  help,  for  every  one  going  out  of    the 


344  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

office  necessarily  carries  with  liim  something  of  what 
he  has  learned  in  the  office  regarding  clientage,  meth- 
ods, etc.,  and  very  often  a  distinct  loss  is  felt,  whereas 
an  advance  in  wages  from  time  to  time — the  amount 
being  dependent  on  the  length  of  service  in  every  case — 
is  such  an  incentive  as  keeps  the  office  force  intact  and 
prevents  any  of  the  business  getting  away. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  rule  of  ethics  that  prevents  the 
lawyer  from  arranging  with  the  manager  of  his  collec- 
tion department  and  his  assistants,  possibly,  for  a  grad- 
uation of  the  wages  or  salaries  according  to  the  results 
of  the  department.  Such  an  arrangement  must  con- 
due  to  efficiency  and  prevent  the  strict  adherence  to 
office  hours  that  employes  are  often  prone  to  disregard. 

Among  the  most  valued  clients  of  the  commercial 
lawyer  are  the  trade  agencies,  a  fairly  complete  list  of 
which  is  given  in  this  book.  These  agencies,  as  a  rule, 
do  not  charge  for  representation,  but  require  com- 
mercial reports.  As  a  rule,  representation  with  them 
is  desirable. 

The  device,  in  the  shape  of  a  card,  made  to  fit  the 
ordinary  card  file  cabinet,  bearing  the  name  of  the  at- 
torney and  a  statement  as  to  his  facilities  for  doing  this 
line  of  business  and  carrying  some  references  will  al- 
ways be  effectual.  This  card  well  distributed  among  the 
forwarders  doing  business  in  the  attorney's  territory 
will  not  usually  be  thrown  away  by  the  forwarders  re- 
ceiving it,  as  nearly  all  forwarders  have  a  card  index 
of  receiving  attorneys  throughout  the  country,  and  the 
attorney's  card  being  made  of  the  size  to  fit  the  stand- 
ard drawer  in  which  the  card  index  is  filed,  it  becomes 
a  very  easy  matter  to  file  it,  so  that  in  case  a  lawyer  is 
wanted,  or  in  case  of  the  failure  of  the  firm's  usual  rep- 
resentative or  his  inability  to  accept  employment  in  a 
particular  case,  the  card  will  serve  the  purpose  of  in- 
troducing the  applicant  for  business. 


AND    HIS    WORK  345 

The  cards  referred  to  can  well  be  sent  to  the  list  of 
forwarders  given  in  the  closing  pages  of  this  book,  the 
parties  sending  them  being  careful  not  to  cover  the  ter- 
ritory that  does  not  forward  to  their  section  of  the  coun- 
try. 

Make  every  piece  of  business  in  your  office  an  avenue 
for  widening  your  business  acquaintance — and  this  ap- 
plies to  the  most  worthless  piece  of  business  in  the 
office  as  well  as  to  the  best. 

Cultivate  a  friendly  relationship  with  all  other  com- 
mercial attorneys  in  your  town  or  city,  knowing  that 
honorable  competition  is  as  possible  in  the  commercial 
law  and  collection  business  as  in  any  other. 

Never  allow  yourself  to  lose  your  patience  in  writing 
letters  to  forwarders  or  clients  under  any  circumstances, 
no  matter  how  great  the  provocation.  If  you  are  in  the 
right,  your  impatience  will  throw  a  doubt  on  it,  rather 
than  convince. 

In  your  letters  to  debtors  and  persons  against  whom 
you  are  acting,  endeavor  to  give  a  semi-familiar  or  per- 
sonal tone  that  will  rather  attract  than  offend. 

Impress  every  member  of  the  office  staff  from  the 
office  boy  up  with  the  desirability  of  making  a  friendly 
impression  on  every  one  with  whom  he  comes  in  con- 
tact. 

So  far  as  possible  give  to  everyone  in  the  office  a 
working  interest,  though  I  am  unable  to  advise  or  sug- 
gest what  that  may  mean  in  your  particular  case.  In 
every  law  and  collection  office  a  way  can  be  found  of 
making  it  profitable  for  the  employe  to  give  more  than 
the  average  time  and  effort  to  his  work. 

The  opening  of  the  mail  should  be  under  the  direct 
charge  of  some  one  individual.  Mail  should  be  opened 
and   stamped  with   the  date  of  receipt  and  distributed 


346  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

promptly,  and  everyone  in  the  office  held  accountable 
for  the  prompt  execution  of  his  work,  and  in  this  the 
heads  of  the  office  should  set  an  example. 

It  should  be  the  first  duty  of  someone  in  the  office  at 
the  opening  of  business  to  place  upon  the  desk  of  the 
members  of  the  staff  the  files  noted  for  attention  that 
day. 

Pay  no  money  to  forwarders  as  a  bonus  for  their  busi- 
ness, inasmuch  as  the  division  of  fees  required  by  such 
agencies  is  sufficient  compensation  to  them,  but  chiefly 
because  such  a  practice  is  unethical  in  that  it  is  the 
buying  of  business. 

Pay  no  money  to  agencies  that  tell  you  they  will  send 
you  business  in  consideration  of  your  paying  to  them 
a  few  dollars  and  offering  as  a  mask  to  the  real  pur- 
pose some  special  service  in  the  way  of  information  re- 
garding law  lists,  etc.,  which  information  at  best  is 
little  more  than  you  have  yourself,  and  if  you  are  a 
member  of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  is 
of  no  value  as  compared  to  what  you  can  get  from  the 
League  free  of  charge. 

Join    the    Commercial  Law     League     of     America, 

read  its  monthly  Bulletin,  attend  its  conventions,  take 
advantage  of  the  facilities  it  offers  in  the  way  of  giving 
information  regarding  house  agencies,  law  lists,  unfair 
forwarders,  etc. 

Not  only  should  a  member  of  every  firm  be  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  but  a 
membership  should  be  taken  out  for  the  manager  of  the 
Collection  Department  of  the  firm  whether  he  be  a 
lawyer  or  a  layman,  inasmuch  as  his  membership  at  $5 
a  year  will  give  him  an  added  value  to  the  firm  and 
its  business,  by  reason  of  the  inspiration  and  the  infor- 
mation he  will  receive  that  will  make  the  cost  of  mem- 
bership insignificant. 


AND    HIS   WORK  347 

Subscribe  for  such  periodicals  as  cater  to  the  com- 
mercial law  and  collection  world,  and  see  that  those 
in  your  office  who  have  to  do  with  the  collection  depart- 
ment have  an  opportunity  to  read  them,  and  thus  make 
them  intelligent  help  and  add  to  their  efficiency  by 
their  learning  of  efficient  methods  employed  by  others. 

Call  on  well-known  commercial  law  firms  in  cities  and 
towns  that  you  visit  and  obtain  what  information  you 
can  by  observation  and  by  asking  questions  as  to  the 
most  efficient  methods  that  may  be  employed  in  the 
commercial  law  and  collection  office. 

Do  not  make  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  the  desk 
piled  high  with  papers  gives  an  impression  of  a  busy 
office,  as  nowadays  business  men  are  sized  up  very  largely 
by  what  they  are  able  to  accomplish  and  have  been  able 
to  get  behind  them  rather  than  what  they  have  not  ac- 
complished and  have  before  them.  An  office  that  gives 
an  air  of  work  unaccomplished  does  not  make  a  good 
impression. 

Hold  periodical  conferences  to  which  all  members  of 
the  staff  are  invited,  provided  the  office  is  of  sufficient 
size  to  warrant  it,  in  order  that  there  may  be  an  inter- 
change of  suggestions  and  opinions,  which  cannot  be 
made  often  in  the  busy  course  of  the  daily  work.  This 
serves  to  give  added  interest  to,  not  only  the  partners 
themselves,  but  every  employe — and  even  an  office 
boy  has  been  known  to  save  and  make  money  by  sug- 
gestions. 

See  that  everyone  who  enters  your  office  for  whatever 
purpose  is  greeted  with  courtesy  and  made  to  feel  that 
he  would  be  welcome  there  at  any  time,  and  this  partic- 
ularly applies  to  your  treatment  of  persons  against 
whom  you  have  business,  as  your  clients  with  a  fair 
degree  of  attention  on  your  part  will  remain  with  you, 
while  strangers  may  come  to  you  only  because  of  un- 
usual courtesy  on  your  part. 


348  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

The  collector  sent  out  from  the  law  office  to  inter- 
view debtors  should  be  constantly  warned  against  his 
antagonizing  those  whom  he  meets,  but  should  be  en- 
couraged to  so  deal  with  debtors  that  they  will  be 
friendly  with  the  office;  he  should  be  urged  to  see  that 
the  debtors  find  their  way,  sooner  or  later,  into  the  office 
to  meet  some  one  who  has  the  tact  to  get  the  results 
and  at  the  same  time  if  possible  win  the  good  will  and 
patronage  of  the  caller,  all  of  which  is  a  means  of  build- 
ing up  the  business  that  is  almost  generally  disregarded. 

In  these  days  of  high  living  expenses,  v/hich  includes 
high  office  expenses,  use  post  cards  as  often  as  possible 
excepting  where  the  nature  of  the  communication  is 
confidential. 

Save  labor  and  time  by  the  use  of  well  constructed 
forms,  and  this  applies  to  receipts,  remittance  blanks, 
letters  of  transmittal;  but  it  seldom  applies  to  reports 
on  claims. 

From  time  to  time  write  a  circular  letter  to  your  cli- 
ents, not  to  the  general  public  but  to  your  own  clients, 
calling  their  attention  to  certain  matters  which  it  is  de- 
sirable that  clients  shall  be  educated  to;  as,  for  instance, 
the  matter  of  asking  for  reports  on  claims.  This  peri- 
odical letter  will  not  only  educate  them,  and  many  cli- 
ents need  it,  but  it  will  serve  to  bring  you  to  their  mind 
at  intervals  and  lead  to  employment. 

Do  not  make  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  you  can 
win  clients  generally  by  direct  appeals  to  business  men 
through  circular  letters ;  this  method  is  not  only  unethi- 
cal under  the  accepted  rule  but  it  is  ineffective  and 
wasteful  of  money  and  energy. 

Make  a  point  of  getting  acquainted  personally  with 
the  leaders  in  the  field  of  commercial  law  and  collections. 
You  will  find  them  to  be  men  of  high  character  and  men 
of  fine  principle,  highly  trained  and  efficient,  and  their 


AND    HIS    WORK  349 

value  to  you  will  be  great  in  the  way  of  inspiration  to 
better  work  and  a  higher  estimate  of  your  line  of  en- 
deavor. 

Waste  no  money  in  such  advertising  schemes  as  blot- 
ters, wall-maps,  calendars,  rulers,  pencils  and  other  de- 
vices used  by  business  enterprises.  These  schemes  are 
beneath  the  dignity  of  the  lawyer  and,  aside  from  that 
consideration,  are  practically  worthless. 

Make  every  item  of  business  that  you  successfully 
transact,  however  small  it  may  be,  a  stepping  stone  to 
further  business,  not  by  a  boastful  advertisement  of 
your  success  but  an  adroit  way  of  reporting  it  to  your 
client  that  must  put  him  in  mind  of  other  business  that 
ought  to  be  handled  by  you  in  the  same  manner. 

If  you  conduct  a  collection  department,  place  in 
charge  of  it  a  young  man  full  of  vim  and  vigor  with  am- 
bition to  succeed  in  this  particular  line,  and  never  en- 
gage for  it  a  man  who  has  been  a  failure  in  anything 
else. 

Never  permit  your  business  to  grow  barnacles,  but 
periodically  turn  the  business  upside  down  and  scrape 
off  the  growth  that  retards  its  progress;  and  this  means 
the  cutting  ofif  of  employes  who  have  served  their  use- 
fulness. 

Do  not  follow  the  example  of  the  commercial  lawyer 
who,  in  his  travels,  makes  a  point  of  knocking  his  fel- 
low lawyers  in  the  hope  of  thus  boosting  himself,  since 
the  purpose  is  self-evident  and  the  practice  reacts  on  the 
person  engaged  in  it. 

Learn  what  part  of  the  country  trades  with  your  city 
and  locality  and  confine  your  efforts  in  client-winning 
to  the  commercial  centers  that  supply  your  local  busi- 
ness, and  make  note  of  the  forwarding  firms  in  those 
centers  that  furnish  the  bulk  of  the  forwarding  busi- 


350  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ness,  the  names  of  which   forwarders  can  be  obtained 
from  the  pages  of  this  book. 

Insist  that  the  forwarder  who  sends  you  business  on 
a  division  of  fees  give  to  you  your  just  proportion  (two- 
thirds)  of  the  entire  fee  he  receives  from  his  clients ;  and 
it  may  be  generally  known  whether  or  not  the  for- 
warder is  withholding  from  you  a  portion  of  the  fee 
that  is  your  due  by  the  schedule  of  fees  he  uses  in  send- 
ing you  business,  since  few  forwarders  nowadays  take 
business  on  the  schedules  often  used  by  them  in  sending 
business  out;  as,  for  instance,  the  10  per  cent  on  the 
first  $100  or  $200  and  the  minimum  fee  of  $2,  which  is 
an  antiquated  rate,  and  which  no  forwarders  use 
in  their  dealings  with  their  clients  but  do  use  in  their 
dealings  with  the  receiving  attorneys. 

In  sending  out  business  to  attorneys,  the  fee  in  which 
is  to  be  divided,  give  to  the  receiving  attorney  his  just 
proportion  (two-thirds)  of  the  entire  fee  you  receive 
from  your  clients,  as  only  by  so  doing  can  you  be  fair 
to  him  and  to  the  clients.. 

Do  not,  fof  a  money  or  other  consideration,  bind 
yourself  to  use  any  particular  law  list  in  the  sending 
out  of  your  business,  as  by  so  doing  you  give  up  the  free- 
dom that  is  rightfully  yours  to  select  the  best  attorney 
available  and  to  properly  serve  your  client. 

Earn  and  maintain  a  clear  record  in  the  bankruptcy 
courts  and  this  means  that  you  shall  not  become  known 
as  a  business-wrecker. 

Do  not  permit  yourself  to  serve  a  forwarder  in  a  bank- 
ruptcy matter  where  he  has  sent  to  you  one  or  two  mi- 
nor claims  to  be  filed  with  the  court  and  sent  other 
claims  against  the  same  bankrupt  estate  direct  to  the 
court,  thus  obtaining  your  advice  and  assistance  in  the 
one  or  two  matters  to  be  used  by  him  with  his  clients 
in  these  and  other  matters.     On  discovering  that  your 


AND    HIS    WORK  351 

forwarder  is  playing  the  double  game  with  you,  give 
up  your  employment  with  him,  or  insist  that  you  be 
given  charge  of  all  claims  filed  by  him  in  the  proceeding. 

Do  not  accept  a  claim  against  any  one,  which  claim 
you  cannot  (through  friendship  or  business  relationship 
with  the  debtor)  push  with  proper  vigor,  but  promptly 
and  frankly  state  your  relationship  to  the  debtor  and 
return  the  matter,  and  it  were  better  to  do  this  than  to 
retain  the  claim  for  an  interview  with  the  debtor  in  the 
hopes  that  a  friendly  adjustment  may  be  made,  as  this 
is  unfair  to  the  client,  who  expects  vigorous  action  from 
the  start  and  not  such  a  notice  to  the  debtor  as  your 
course  would  give  him,  and  perhaps  permit  him  to  es- 
cape, where  a  vigorous  handling  of  the  matter  from  the 
start  might  have  been  effectual. 

When  business  is  sent  accompanied  by  a  law  list  cou- 
pon and  the  terms  of  a  law  list  are  referred  to  as  the 
terms  governing  the  transaction,  take  no  steps  in  the 
matter  until  these  terms  are  understood  by  you;  in 
other  words,  lock  the  door  before  the  horse  is  stolen, 
and  not  after. 

Never  go  behind  a  forwarder  direct  to  his  clients,  ex- 
cepting in  the  rare  cases  where  the  forwarder  abso- 
lutely refuses  or  continues  to  neglect  to  do  his  duty  as 
middleman,  or  where  there  is  a  just  suspicion  of  fraud 
on  the  part  of  the  forwarder. 

In  general,  report  all  frauds,  irregularities,  unfairness 
on  the  part  of  receivers  or  forwarders  or  clients  to  the 
Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  which  is  prepared 
to  deal  with  all  such  cases. 

In  corresponding  regarding  a  matter,  always  refer  to 
the  matter  by  title  as  well  as  by  the  number  of  the 
item  if  your  correspondent  has  given  it  a  number,  since 
a  neglect  of  this  may  give  you  an  unenviable  reputation 
(for  the  instant  at  least)   in  his  office,  and,  for  ease  in 


352  THE   COMMERCIAL  LAWYER 

doing  this,  your  office  folder  containing  the  correspon- 
dence and  the  history  of  the  claim  should  always  plainly 
state  the  correspondent's  number  or  symbol  that  he  has 
adopted  to  identify  the  matter  in  his  office. 

Every  man  must  decide  for  himself  how  far  he  will 
go  in  observing  the  strict  letter  of  the  ethical  rule  as  to 
soliciting  business,  and  I  am  certain  that  I  am  not  mis- 
taken when  I  say  that  the  direct  soliciting  of  business 
is  unprofessional  in  a  commercial  lawyer,  as  it  is  in  any 
other  sort  of  lawyer;  but  I  can  see  no  objection  to  a 
lawyer  visiting  his  fellow  lawyers  or  forwarders  and  in 
a  proper  and  decent  way  introducing  himself  by  means  of 
his  card  and  letting  it  be  known  that  he  is  on  earth, 
though  I  realize  well  enough  that  the  line  of  distinction 
between  this  and  something  else  is  very  fine. 

Make  your  clients  and  such  forwarders  as  you  come 
in  contact  with  your  personal  friends,  as  in  this  age  of 
intense  competition,  friendship  turns  the  scale  often. 

Extend  your  collection  operations  so  far  as  possible 
into  surrounding  towns  that  are  not  served  by  lawyers 
residing  therein,  as  this  has  been  found  by  many  attor- 
neys to  be  a  fruitful  source  of  income. 

Where  you  announce  the  fact  that  you  are  prepared 
to  do  business  in  neighboring  towns,  it  will  be  assumed 
by  clients  and  forwarders  that  you  can  do  business  in 
those  towns  without  added  expense;  and,  therefore,  in 
accepting  business  for  these  towns,  where  you  expect  to 
make  expense  by  way  of  travel  or  otherwise,  a  distinct 
understanding  should  be  had  with  the  owners  or  for- 
warders of  the  claims  with  reference  to  such  expense. 

Do  not  consider  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  al- 
ways stand  on  the  letter  of  your  rights,  particularly 
where  the  difference  between  yourself  and  another  is 
trivial,  since  there  is  always  room  for  a  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  what  are  your  rights,  and  sometimes  a  man 


AND    HIS    WORK  353 

has  slipped  up  on  a  good  client  and  good  business  by 
reason  of  being  a  stickler  for  what  he  considers  his  just 
dues. 

The  commercial  lawyer,  in  his  dealings  with  the  com- 
mercial world,  must  recognize  that  he  is  dealing  with 
many  and  divers  kinds  of  individuals  and  with  many  and 
divers  kinds  of  minds;  and  that  all  cannot  be  expected 
to  meet  his  views  in  every  particular,  so  that  there  must 
be  in  correspondence  and  in  dealings  with  a  large  num- 
ber of  individuals  a  certain  degree  of  ''give  and  take  "  a 
willingness  to  forego  an  advantage  at  times,  and  even  a 
disposition  to  give  up  where  by  so  doing  something 
greater  that  is  at  stake  may  be  earned. 

See  that  your  contract  with  your  law  list  provides 
that  the  law  list  publisher  may  not  directly  or  indirectly 
be  interested  in  an  agency  or  enterprise  of  any  sort  that 
employs  (under  contract)  attorneys  at  prominent  centers 
of  population  as  special  adjusters  to  whom  in  the  event 
of  any  important  business  arising  in  your  locality  this 
busmess  would  be  sent  for  adjustment  or  collection-  in 
other  words,  that  all  business  of  every  description 
whether  a  collection  or  an  adjustment,  arising  in  your 
territory,  shall  come  direct  to  you. 

REFORMS  THAT  MUST  COME. 

0)  The  division  of  fees,  between  forwarder  and  re- 
ceiver, when  allowed,  will,  in  the  absence  of  an  agree- 
ment to  the  contrary,  mean  the  division  of  the  whole  fee 
paid  by  the  client. 

(2)  The  practice  of  employing  a  lawyer  or  firm  of  law- 
yers m  a  commercial  center  to  do  adjusting,  collectino- 
etc.,  in  large  matters  throughout  an  extended  district 
contiguous  to  their  home  cities,  and  at  the  same  time 
making  contracts  for  representation  in  the  smaller  cities 
and  towns  of  the  same  territory  with  local  lawyers   giv- 


354  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ing  them  sole  representation,  without  advising  them  of 
the  facts,  will  be  prohibited. 

(3)  The  prices  of  law  list  representation  will  be  put 
on  a  more  scientific  and  more  stable  basis,  so  that  the 
lawyer  in  dealing  with  the  law  list  publisher  may  feel  se- 
cure in  his  ethical  position. 

(4)  Law  list  publishers  will  discontinue  sales  to  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers  of  their  so-called  "service," 
which  is  but  a  name  for  a  scheme  for  enabling  the  mer- 
chants or  manufacturers  to  handle  their  claims  without 
the  service  of  the  lawyer. 

(5)  The  house  agency  and  house  attorney  demanding 
from  receiving  lawyers  a  portion  of  their  fees  will  be 
held  in  contempt  and  their  business  refused. 

(6)  A  standard  form  of  transmittal  of  claims  will  be 
adopted  generally  by  forwarders  everywhere. 

(7)  A  standard  schedule  of  fees  will  be  adopted  by 
every  forwarder  and  receiver. 

(8)  Every  claim  will  be  accompanied  by  a  statement 
of  what,  if  any,  steps  have  been  previously  taken  to  rea- 
lize on  it. 

(9)  No  law  list  or  legal  directory  unworthy  of  the 
patronages  of  lawyers,  either  by  reason  of  fraud  and  de- 
ceitful practices  by  its  publishers  or  by  reason  of  exces- 
sive and  exorbitant  representation  charges,  will  be  per- 
mitted to  exist  and  prey  on  the  fraternity. 

(10)  Agencies  and  forwarders  generally  asking  of  law- 
yers a  bonus  for  representing  them  will  be  compelled  to 
stop  the  practice. 

(11)  The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  will  be 
used  as  a  clearing  house  for  information  as  to  unfair  for- 
warders and  receivers,  and  every  effort  made  to  rid  the 
commercial  law  world  of  this  class  of  business  and  pro- 
fessional men. 

(12)  In  all  cities  and  towns,  where  there  are  two  or 
more  engaged  in  the  commercial  practice,  local  organiza- 


AND    HIS    WORK  356 

tions  will  be  formed  composed  of  such  lawyer?,  who  will 
co-operate  to  reform  the  practice  according  to  modern 
ideas  and,  by  the  interchange  of  experience,  protect 
themselves  against  unfair  forwarders,  worthless  law  lists 
and  harmful  competition. 

(13)  Merchants  and  forwarders  generally  using  law- 
yers' names  without  authority  in  the  collecting  of  claims 
through  direct-demand  letters  or  by  drafts  will  be  com- 
pelled to  stop  the  practice. 

(14)  Fees  will  not  be  divided;  all  fees  stated  in  for- 
warding or  transmittal  letters  will  be  net  to  the  receiv- 
ing attorney. 

(15)  Advanced  costs  will  never  be  considered  as  an  ad- 
vance of  fees,  so  as  to  warrant  the  receiver  in  keeping  a 
portion  thereof  as  a  fee  without  an  agreement  therefor 
with  the  client  or  forwarder. 

(16)  Law  list  publishers  will  cease  competing  for  the 
business  of  forwarders,  but  will  confine  their  efforts  to 
publishing. 

(17)  No  device,  by  means  of  which  forwarders  are 
induced  for  a  consideration  to  send  their  business  over  a 
certain  list,  wall  be  permitted,  if  it  is  capabale  of  being  in- 
terpreted as  a  form  of  purchasing  business,  since  the 
lawyer  who  buys  representation  in  the  lists  participating 
in  the  act  must  participate  in  the  purchase. 

(18)  The  making  of  commercial  reports  by  lawyers 
will  be  confined  to  cases  where  money,  or  a  money  equiv- 
alent, is  given  in  consideration  therefor. 

(19)  The  activities  of  laymen  in  the  collection  field 
will  be  circumscribed  and  limited  within  fair  bounds, 
such  as  will  give  the  lawyer  a  fair  opportunity  to  prac- 
tice his  profession  with  profit. 

(20)  The  activities  of  the  adjustment  bureaus  of  the 
associations  of  credit  men  will  be  limited  to  their  natural 
spheres,  and  their  condemnation  of  the  legal  profession 
and  their  underhand  methods  of  obtaining  business  at 


356  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

the  expense  of  the  lawyer,  will  be  curbed,  as  they  well 
may  be  in  view  of  the  fact  that  adjustment  bureaus  of 
these  associations  are  in  many  cases  attempting  to  prac- 
tice law, 

(21)  A  campaign  of  education  will  be  inaugurated 
by  and  through  lawyer  organizations  to  offset  the  con- 
stant and  insidious  propaganda  of  agencies  and  adjust- 
ment companies  in  favor  of  the  lay  collector  as  against 
the  lawyer. 

(22)  The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  will 
be  made  the  clearing  house  whereby  lawyers  desirous  of 
entering  the  commercial  practice  or  of  changing  their 
location  may  obtain  information  as  to  desirable  fields, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  localities  requiring  the  services  of 
good  commercial  attorneys  will  be  able  to  find  them — all 
this  to  the  benefit  of  the  lawyer  himself,  the  law  list, 
the  agency,  and  the  business  world  generally,  since  there 
are  many  sections  of  the  country  unsatisfactorily  served 
by  commercial  attorneys  and  there  are  many  capable  at- 
torneys in  the  more  crowded  centers  who  would,  if  the 
facts  were  known,  be  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  oppor- 
tunities to  locate  in  desirable  fields. 

(23)  A  new  type  of  commercial  lawyer  will  come  into 
control  of  the  commercial  business  of  the  country  noted 
for  his  promptness,  his  reliability,  his  observance  of  the 
modern  requirements  of  the  business  lawyer,  his 
straightforward  and  honest  methods  of  accounting  for 
the  proceeds  of  matters  entrusted  to  his  care,  his  un- 
willingness to  participate  in  fraud  of  any  character,  and 
his  unwillingness  to  patronize  any  institution  or  enter- 
prise that  makes  a  prey  of  the  lawyer. 

(24)  The  lay  agency  will  take  its  rightful  place  as 
the  intermediary  between  the  client  and  the  lawyer,  and 
will  usurp  the  place  of  neither  of  these,  as  he  is  now 
seeking  to  do  in  the  case  of  both. 

(25)  By  co-operation  among  law  list  publishers  and 
forwarders,  it  will  be  possible  for  any  number  of  repu- 


AND    HIS    WORK  357 

table    attorneys     to    engage    in     the    commercial     law 
practice  m  any  particular  locality;  as  it  is  now,  the  busi- 
ness IS  monopolized  in  every  city  and  town  by  from  one 
to  half  a  dozen  attorneys  or  firms  of  attorneys,  and  it  is 
impossible  practically  for  a  new  man  to  enter  the  field. 
(26)  A   law  list  charging  attorneys   for  representa- 
tion  will   neither  directly  nor   indirectly   become   finan- 
cially interested  in  agencies  sending  business  to  these 
same  attorneys  on  a  division  of  fees,  and  will  not  provide 
the  business  men  with  the  means  whereby  they  are  en- 
couraged   to   maintain    a   direct   collecting   system    and 
thereby  injure  the  lawyer  who  is  asked   to   contribute 
to  the  support  of  the  law  list. 

(27)  The  asking  of  attorneys  to  pay  for  bonds  issued 
by  a  law  list  guaranteeing  their  faithful  performance 
of  their  duty  will  be  condemned  and  done  away 
with.  There  will  be  no  objection  made  to  law  lists  and 
agencies  giving  such  bonds  for  the  faithful  performance 
of  duty  by  their  representatives,  but  in  no  case  will  the 
awyer  be  called  upon  to  contribute  to  the  expense  of 
this  bond. 

HOW   REFORMS   ARE   TO    COME. 

Reforms  in  the  future  are  to  come  from  several 
sources. 

First,  they  are  to  come  through  forces  working  with- 
in the  ranks  of  the  men  who  are  guilty  of  the  abuses  I 
an  icipate  that  the  leading  agency  men  of  the  country 
will  organize,  as  have  the  leading  law  list  publishers  in 

in  the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America 

The    League   is   not    prepared    to    handle    properlv 

Itself  handle  them  alone  were  it  to  undertake  to  do  so 

The  Law  List  Conference,  by  its  frequent  meetings  and 

he  co-operation  of  its  members,  by  means  also  of  its 

free  discussion  and  consideration  of  unworthy  practices 


358  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

that  may  be  brought  to  the  door  of  any  of  its  mem- 
bers, is  in  position  to  exert  a  disciplinary  force,  so  we 
may  look  to  see  many  of  the  abuses  in  the  law  publish- 
ing business  abolished  by  the  action  of  the  publishers 
themselves. 

The  agencies  may  well  undertake  similar  organization 
and  work  and  I  am  satisfied  that  the  time  will  come 
when  they  will  do  so.  I  have  always  advocated  that  the 
agency  men  in  the  League  shall  form  the  nucleus  of 
such  a  co-operative  organization.  I  do  not  anticipate 
that  any  one  of  the  classes  forming  the  League  will 
withdraw  from  that  body  to  form  a  separate  and  distinct 
organization.  In  doing  so,  they  would  do  themselves 
a  harm  as  well  as  the  League.  Such  bodies  as  the  Law 
List  Conference  acting  in  perfect  sympathy  and  perfect 
harmony  and  co-operation  with  the  League  can  bring 
about  any  results  they  may  desire ;  separate  and  apart 
they  could  not  do  so  without  running  the  risk  of  antago- 
nizing the  great  body  of  lawyers  to  whom  they  must 
look  for  support.  The  same  would  be  true  of  an  agency 
organization. 

Second,  reforms  will  come  through  education  and 
publication  of  the  facts  and  opinions  of  those  interested 
in  the  betterment  of  conditions.  This  condition  can  best 
come  about  through  the  action  of  the  Commercial  Law 
League  of  America,  which  is  recognized  now  as  the  one 
authoritative  body  of  commercial  lawyers  and  collection 
men  in  the  world.  This  body  has  shown  its  ability  of 
recent  years  to  bring  about  what  it  considers  desirable; 
as,  witness,  it  remarkable  success  with  the  rate  reform 
movement,  now  in  full  stride. 

The  League  was,  for  many  years,  inoperative  as  a 
working  body.  It  was  almost  purely  social  in  its  organ- 
nization  and  makeup.  Its  spirit  was  that  of  comrade- 
ship, merely.  Its  recent  conventions,  however,  have 
struck  a  new  note — that  of  service.  Great  things 
may  be  expected  of  the  League  in  this  respect.    I  believe 


AND    HIS    WORK  359 

it  is  only  on  the  threshold  of  its  labors  for  the  benefit  of 
its  members  and  the  profession  at  large. 

Third,  by  the  earnest  purpose  of  every  man  in  the 
business  doing  his  part  in  his  own  community  to  live 
up  to  the  standards  set  by  the  men  w^ho  are  laboring  for 
the  uplift  of  the  fraternity.  This  number  is  constantly 
growing.  Ten  years  ago  it  could  be  truthfully  said  that 
the  profession  of  law  was  guilty  of  absolute  indiffer- 
ence, if  not  cowardly  subservience,  to  bad  conditions. 
That  spirit  is  rapidly  giving  place  to  a  spirit  of  earnest 
and  courageous  purpose  to  correct  the  evils  incident  to 
the  business  and  counteract  the  growing  tendency  to- 
ward low  compensation  and  unworthy  methods. 

Fourth,  by  local  working  agreements  among  the  com- 
mercial lawyers  and  agency  men  in  every  considerable 
community,  by  which  through  periodical  meetings  and 
interchange  of  experience  those  interested  may  be  put 
on  their  guard  against  imposition  and  educated  to  higher 
ideals  and  better  methods.  These  organizations  need 
not  be  formal,  as,  indeed,  few  of  them  are,  but  should 
have  sufficient  coherence  to  do  practical  work.  Such  or- 
ganizations have  sprung  into  being  in  the  last  five  years 
in  scores  of  cities ;  for  instance,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh, 
Cincinnati,  Indianapolis,  Chicago,  Detroit,  St.  Paul,  Min- 
neapolis, Milwaukee,  Kansas  City,  New  Orleans,  San 
Francisco.  But  what  is  wanted  is  co-operative  work  in 
every  town  and  city  in  the  country  where  there  are  two 
or  more  men  interested  in  commercial  law  and  collec- 
tions. Indeed,  the  smaller  the  town  the  more  advan- 
tage is  to  be  reaped  from  co-operation  among  the  few 
interested. 

Fifth,  the  membership  by  every  man  practicing  com- 
mercial law  to  any  extent  whatver,  every  reputable 
agency  manager,  every  reputable  law  list  publisher  in 
the  Commercial  Law  League  of  America,  whose  litera- 
ture and  conventions  have  proven  to  be  the  most  educa- 


360  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

tive  force  in  the  field  and  the  most  powerful  stimulus  to 
a  better  condition  of  things. 

I  want  to  say  that  the  conditions  of  which  we  com- 
plain cannot  be  remedied  by  lawyers  withdrawing  from 
the  commercial  law  field  and  withholding  their  support 
from  organizations  that  are  honestly  trying  to  improve 
them,  I  am  very  frequently  told  by  members  of  the 
Commercial  Law  League  of  America  that  they  have  no 
patience  with  existing  conditions  and,  therefore,  have 
decided  to  withdraw  from  the  field.  Hundreds  of  good 
commercial  lawyers  have  given  up  the  commercial  law 
and  collection  business  due  to  their  unhappy  experience 
in  the  field.  It  were  much  better  for  these  men  and  the 
profession  generally  if,  instead  of  turning  their  backs 
upon  the  task  of  meeting  the  abuses,  they  resolutely  face 
them  and  help  destroy  them. 

THE    LAYMAN    IN    THE    LAW.— LEGISLATION 
AND  DECISIONS  ON  THE  UNLAWFUL  EF- 
FORT OF  LAYMEN  TO  PRACTICE  LAW. 

Formerly  the  practice  of  law  was  conducted  by  the 
lawyer,  a  man  who  was  looked  up  to  in  the  community 
as  a  member  of  a  dignified  profession  and  was  highly 
esteemed  as  a  leader  in  society.  His  success  was  not 
based  upon  the  amount  of  money  he  made,  but  was  es- 
tablished by  his  fidelity  to  the  highest  ideals  of  truth, 
righteousness  and  justice,  and  his  eminence  in  the  pro- 
fession as  a  man  of  profound  learning. 

The  practice  of  the  law  has  become  commercialized. 
Financial  interests  have  gradually  brought  under  their 
domination,  and  control  some  of  the  best  and  highest 
fields  of  the  practice  for  the  profits  which  can  be  ac- 
quired therefrom.  Part  of  the  very  best  branches  of  the 
lawyer's  work  is  conducted,  both  in  court  and  out  of 
court,  by  corporations,  which  have  not,  nor  can  have, 
neither  soul  nor  conscience,  owe  no  allegiance  to 
codes  of  ethics  or  morals,  and  have  no  other  cause  for 


AND    HIS    WORK  361 

their  existence  than  the  accumulation  of  wealth  for  di- 
rectors and  stockholders. 

W'e  are  beset  with  corporations  practicing  law.  Title 
and  trust  companies  have  secured  a  practical  monopoly 
of  the  real  estate  work.  Trust  companies  offer  free  ad- 
vice concerning  the  making  of  wills  and  creation  ot 
trusts  in  order  to  secure  the  handling  of  the  funds  ot 
estates  and  trusts.  When  they  have  secured  them,  they 
charge  and  receive  attorneys'  fees  in  the  administration 
thereof,  while  the  attorney  is  their  paid  attorney  work- 
ing on  a  salary.  This  is  practicing  law  by  the  corpora- 
tion. Without  any  statute  prohibiting  the  practice  of 
law  by  corporations,  this  is  unlawful,  and  such  fees  are 
not  a  proper  charge  against  the  estates  or  trust  funds. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  New  York  at  Trial  Term  in 
United  States  Title  Guaranty  Co.  vs.  Brown,  149  N.  Y, 
Supp.  186,  in  an  action  by  the  corporation  against  the 
attorney  for  an  accounting,  held  that  the  corporation's 
contract,  construed  in  connection  with  its  contract  with 
the  property  owners,  was  an  attempt  on  its  part  to  prac- 
tice law,  in  contravention  of  public  policy  and  in  viola- 
tion of  statute,  the  court  adding: 

"The  profession  of  the  law,  one  of  the  oldest 
known  to  civilization,  involving  the  most  sacred  con- 
fidence between  man  and  man,  with  its  past  of  high 
ideals  and  service  to  humanity,  has  in  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century  suffered  much  from  the  inroads  of 
financial  and  business  methods  in  this  great  land  of 
ours.  Whether  by  ill-advised  attempts  by  corporate 
employers  to  dominate  and  direct  attorneys  and  coun- 
sel in  the  conduct  of  litigation,  whether  by  so-called 
title  companies  or  casualty  insurance  corporations,  the 
old  ideals  in  the  relation  of  attorney  and  client,  which 
meant  so  much  to  mankind,  have  suffered  and  have 
been  threatened  with  demoralization.  This  is  wrong. 
The  loss  of  the  individual  personal  relation  involved 
in  the  attempt  by  corporations  to  practice  law  is  so 


362  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

serious  to  the  community  that  it  is  against  public 
policy,  and  I  am  inclined  to  thing  malum  in  se." 

In  the  case  of  Co-Operative  Law  Co.,  198  New  York, 
the  court  said : 

"The  practice  of  law  is  not  a  business  open  to  all, 
but  a  personal  right,  limited  to  a  few  persons  of  good 
moral  character,  with  special  qualifications  ascer- 
tained and  certified  after  a  long  course  of  study,  both 
general  and  professional,  and  a  thorough  examina- 
tion by  a  state  board  appointed  for  the  purpose.  The 
right  to  practice  law  is  in  the  nature  of  a  franchise 
from  the  state  conferred  only  for  merit.  It  cannot 
be  assigned  or  inherited,  but  must  be  earned  by  hard 
study  and  good  conduct.  It  is  attested  by  a  certifi- 
cate of  the  Supreme  Court  and  is  protected  by  regis- 
tration. No  one  can  practice  law  unless  he  has  taken 
an  oath  of  office  and  has  become  an  officer  of  the 
court,  subject  to  its  discipline,  liable  to  punishment 
for  contempt  in  violating  his  duties  as  such,  and  to 
suspension  or  removal.  It  is  not  a  lawful  business 
except  for  members  of  the  bar  who  have  complied 
with  all  the  conditions  required  by  statute  and  the 
rules  of  the  courts.  As  these  conditions  cannot  be 
performed  by  a  corporation,  it  follows  that  the  prac- 
tice of  law  is  not  a  lawful  business  for  a  corporation 
to  engage  in.  As  it  cannot  practice  law  directly,  it 
cannot  indirectly  by  employing  competent  lawyers 
to  practice  for  it,  as  that  would  be  an  evasion  which 
the  law  will  not  tolerate. 

"The  relation  of  attorney  and  client  is  that  of 
master  and  servant  in  a  limited  and  dignified  sense, 
and  it  involves  the  highest  trust  and  confidence.  It 
cannot  be  delegated  without  consent  and  it  cannot 
exist  between  an  attorney  employed  by  a  corporation 
to  practice  law  for  it,  and  a  client  of  the  corporation, 
for  he  would  be  subject  to  the  directions  of  the  cor- 
poration   and    not   to    the   directions   of   the   client. 


AND    HIS   WORK  363 

There  would  neither  be  contract  or  privity  between 
him  and  the  client,  and  he  would  not  owe  even  the 
duty  of  counsel  to  the  actual  litigant.     The  corpora- 
tion would  control  the  litigation,  the  money  earned 
would   belong  to   the   corporation  and   the  attorney 
would  be  responsible  to  the  corporation  only.     His 
master  would  not  be  the  client  but  the  corporation, 
conducted  it  may  be  wholly  by  laymen,  organized  sim- 
ply to  make  money  and  not  to  aid  in  the  administra- 
tion of  justice,  which  is  the  highest  function  of  an 
attorney   and    counselor  at   law.        The   corporation 
might  not  have  a  lawyer  among  its  stockholders,  di- 
rectors or  ofificers.     Its  members  might  be  without 
character,  learning  or  standing.     There  would  be  no 
remedy  by  attachment  or  disbarment  to  protect  the 
public  from  imposition  or  fraud,  no  stimulus  to  good 
conduct  from  the  traditions  of  an  ancient  and  honor- 
able profession,  and  no  guide  except  the  sordid  pur- 
pose  to   earn    money    for   stockholders.        The    bar, 
which  is  an  institution  of  the  highest  usefulness  and 
standing,   would   be  degraded   if  even   its   humblest 
member  became  subject  to  the  orders  of  a  money- 
making  corporation  engaged  not  in  conducting  litiga- 
tion for  itself,  but  in  the  business  of  conducting  liti- 
gation for  others.     The  degredation  of  the  bar  is  an 
injury  to  the  state. 

"A  corporation  can  neither  practice  law  nor  hire 
lawyers  to  carry  on  the  business  of  practicing  law 
for  it  any  more  than  it  can  practice  medicine  or  den- 
tistry by  hiring  doctors  or  dentists  to  act  for  it. 
(People  vs.  Woodbury  Dcrmatological  Institute,  192 
N.  Y.  154;  Hannon  vs.  Siegel-Cooper  Co.,  167  N  Y 
244,  246.)"  ■      ■ 

As  there  is  no  question  that  a  corporation  may  not 
practice  law,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  even  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  statute  prohibiting  such  practice,  it  is  sug- 
gested to  the  members  of  the  bar  that  it  is  their  duty— 


364  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

1.  Whenever  they  represent  heirs  at  law,  lega- 
tees, cestuis  que  trust,  minors  or  persons  under  con- 
servatorship, in  cases  where  trust  companies  are  act- 
ing as  Administrators,  Executors,  Guardians  or  Con- 
servators to  object  to  and  oppose  the  allowance  of  at- 
torney's fees  to  such  trust  companies  where  their 
attorney  acts  as  the  attorney  in  such  cases. 

2.  In  all  foreclosure  suits  and  partition  suits 
where  fees  are  to  be  allowed  by  decrees,  object  to 
and  oppose  the  allowance  of  such  fees  to  attorneys 
of  trust  companies.  Make  the  attorneys  prove  that 
such  fees  do  not  go  to  the  company. 

3.  In  all  Receivership  matters  object  to  and  op- 
pose the  allowance  of  attorney's  fees  to  the  attorney 
of  trust  companies  acting  as  receivers. 

The  following  brief  on  the  unlawful  practice  of  the 
law,  prepared  by  Julius  Henry  Cohen  of  New  York  City, 
will  prove  interesting  and  enlightening: 

WHAT  CONSTITUTES   PRACTICE   OF  THE  LAW. 

An  attorney  acts  in  starting  a  suit,  issuing  process,  appearing 
and  generally  conducting  proceedings  in  court  are  clearly  official 
and  authorized  only  by  virtue  of  his  position  as  an  officer  of  the 
court.  That  these  acts  constitute  practicing  law  and  that  they 
cannot  lawfully  be  done  by  any  one  other  than  an  admitted  attor- 
ney is  beyond  question. 

Kaplan  v.  Berman  (1902),  37  Misc.  502. 

McKoan  v.  Devries  (1848),  3  Barb.  196. 

Newburger  v.  Campbell  (1880),  58  Howard's  Practice  313. 

Weir  V.  Slocum  (1848),  3  Howard's  Practice  Reports  397. 

Robb  V.  Smith  (1841).  4  lU.  46. 

Cobb  V.  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  43  Mich.  289  (1880). 

McClintock  v.  Laing  (1871),  22  Mich.  212.  (Notice  of  deposi- 
tions given  by  a  person  not  an  attorney  may  be  ignored). 

People  V.  May  (1855),  3  Mich.  598.  (A  case  of  a  district  at- 
torney). 

Harkins  v.  Murphy  (1908),  51  Texas  Civil  Appeals  568. 

State  V.  Russell  (1892),  83  Wise.  330.  (A  case  of  an  assistant 
district  attorney). 

See  Rader  v.  Snyder  (1869),  3  W.  Va.  413. 

In  Weir  V.  Slocum  (supra),  the  Court  said  at  p.  398: 

"This  is  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  a  person  who  has  not  been 
admitted  as  an  attorney,  to  practice  as  such,  under  the  name  of 
agent.  If  this  can  be  done,  then  the  law  which  requires  a  regular 
admission  to  authorize  a  person  to  practice  becomes  a  dead  letter." 


AND    HIS    WORK  365 

In  Cobb  V.  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  (supra,  the  Court  held 
that  an  attorney,  being  an  officer  of  the  court,  must  have  the  requi- 
site learning  and  moral  character,  and  that  the  court  must  have 
some  power  to  discipline  him  for  misconduct  by  disbarment  or 
suspension.    At  p.  291  the  Court  said: 

"Attorneys  are  licensed  because  of  their  learning  and  ability, 
so  that  they  may  not  only  protect  the  rights  and  interests  of  their 
clients,  but  be  able  to  assist  the  court  in  the  trial  of  the  cause. 
Yet  what  protection  to  clients  or  assistance  to  courts  could  such 
agents  give?" 

The  principle  also  covers  the  submission  of  briefs  by  non- 
attorneys,  and  the  courts  will  ignore  such  briefs. 

Ellis  V,  Bingham  (1900),  7  Idaho  86. 

Leaver  v.  Kilmer  (New  Jersey,  1903),  54  Atl.  817. 

Gallon  V.  State  (1910),  8  Ga.  App.  476. 

In  Ellis  V.  Bingham  (supra),  the  Court  said: 

A  brief  has  been  filed  on  behalf  of  the  respondent,  signed  by 
persons  who  are  not  members  of  the  bar  of  this  court.  We  can- 
not receive  or  recognize  such  briefs,  and  said  brief  is  ordered 
stricken  from  the  files.  The  action  of  the  parties  who  filed  such 
brief  is  in  violation  of  the  statutes  and  rules  of  this  court,  and 
such  practice  cannot  be  tolerated." 

It  would  certainly  not  be  too  broad  a  generalization  to  say 
that,  at  the  very  least,  everything  connected  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  prosecution  or  defense  of  any  proceeding  in  court  con- 
stitutes practice  of  the  law  and  is  restricted  to  qualified  attorneys. 

KeUy  V.  Herb  (1892),  147  Pa.  State  563. 

Perkins  v.  McDuflee  (1874),  63  Maine  181. 

Bullard  v.  Van  Tassell  (1848),  3  Howard's  Practice  402. 

Re  Spicer  (1869),  1  Tucker  80. 

Moreover,  it  is  well  settled  that  the  courts  will  not  counten- 
ance doing  indirectly  acts  which  it  is  unlawful  to  do  directly,  so 
that,  if  a  corporation  or  an  unlicensed  individual  seeks  to  mask 
his  practice  of  the  law  by  employing  one  or  many  licensed  attor- 
neys to  do  his  legal  work  and  appear  in  the  courts  for  him,  the 
corporation  or  unlicensed  individual  will,  nevertheless,  be  held  to 
practicing  law. 

In  Matter  of  Co-Operative  Law  Co.  (supra),  at  p.  483,  the 
court  (Vann,  J.)   said  of  a  corporation: 

"As  it  cannot  practice  law  directly,  it  cannot  indirectly  by 
emplojMng  competent  lawyers  to  practice  for  it,  as  that  would 
be  evasion  which  the  law  will  not  tolerate.  Quando  aliquid  pro- 
hibetur  ex  directo,  prohibetur  et  per  obliquium.     (Co.  Lit.  223  )' 

In  Matter  of  City  of  New  York  (1911),  144  App.  Div.  107,  the 
Court  said,  at  p.  109: 

"It  is  well  settled  that  a  corporation  cannot  practice  law  either 
directly  or  indirectly  by  employing  lawyers  to  practice  for  it." 

In  Buxton  v.  Lietz  (1912),  136  N.  Y.  Supp.  829,  the  court  said 
at  p.  831: 

"Counsel  for  the  plaintiff,  however,  contends  that  the  plaintiff 
is  not  to  be  likened  to  a  corporation  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
law,  and  again,  that  the  prohibitions  apply  to  corporations  and 
not  to  individuals  engaged  in!  the  business  of  a  mercantile  agency 


366  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

for  collection  on  behalf  of  clients.  This  contention,  however,  is 
not  sound,  for  the  reason  that  the  plaintiff  is  not  an  attorney  and 
counselor  at  law,  and,  since  he  cannot  practice  directly,  he  is  pro- 
hibited from  practicing  indirectly  by  employing  an  attorney  and 
counselor  at  law  to  institute  suits  or  actions  on  behalf  of  his 
'clients'  when  necessary." 

Affirmed  (Appellate  Term,  1st  Department,  1913),  139  N.  T.  Supp. 
46. 

P.  47:  "The  appellant  contends  that,  at  the  time  the  contract 
was  made,  on  March  10,  1911,  it  was  not  illegal,  because  chapter 
483  of  the  Laws  of  1909  merely  prohibited  a  corporation  from  prac- 
ticing law,  and  that  the  amendment  to  that  law  made  by  chapter 
317  of  the  Laws  of  1911,  so  as  to  make  the  prohibition  therein 
contained  apply  to  voluntary  associations,  did  not  go  into  effect 
until  Sept.  1,  1911,  which  was  after  the  contract  in  suit  was  made. 
We  think  that  the  arguments  urged  by  the  appellant  is  imma- 
terial to  the  question  at  issue.  Quite  apart  from  the  statutory 
provisions  referred  to,  the  plaintiff  and  his  assignor,  not  being  duly 
licensed  to  practice  law,  had  no  right  to  contract  to  do  so,  and 
any  contract  made  for  this  purpose  was  illegal.  The  principle 
upon  which  this  ruling  rests  is  so  fully  discussed  in  Matter  of  Co- 
operative Law  Co.,  198  N.  Y.  179,  etc.,  that  further  discussion 
seems  to  us  unnecessary." 

Upon  the  subject  of  what  constitutes  practicing  law,  outside  of 
appearance  in  courts,  there  is  but  little  authority,  but  what  there 
is  of  it  seems  fairly  uniform  in  its  conclusions.  Thornton  on  At- 
torneys at  Law  Sec.  69  says: 

"In  almost  all  jurisdictions  unlicensed  persons  are  prohibited 
from  practicing  law, —  ...  It  is  too  obvious  for  discussion 
that  the  practice  of  law  is  not  limited  to  the  conduct  of  cases  in 
courts.  According  to  the  generally  understood  definition  of  the 
practice  of  law  in  this  country,  it  embraces  the  preparation  of 
pleadings  and  other  papers  incident  to  actions  and  special  pro- 
ceedings and  the  management  of  such  actions  and  proceedings  in 
behalf  of  clients  before  judges  and  courts,  and  in  addition  con- 
veyancing, the  preparation  of  legal  instruments  of  all  kinds,  and 
in  general  all  advice  to  clients  and  all  actions  taken  for  them  in 
matters  connected  with  the  law." 

And  this  statement  can  be  said  in  a  general  way  fairly  to  rep- 
resent the  result  of  the  cases,  some  of  which  contain  equally  ex- 
plicit and  general  statements  on  the  subject. 

Eley  V.  Miller  (1893),  7  Ind.  App.  529,  was  a  case  where  a 
county  auditor  sought  to  recover  fees  for  drawing  bonds  and  con- 
tracts in  a  certain  proceeding  regarding  a  public  ditch.  It  was 
held,  first,  that  he  was  entitled  to  no  constructive  fees  other  than 
those  given  by  statute;  and,  second,  under  an  express  statute  pro- 
hibiting county  auditors  from  practicing  law,  he  was  not  entitled 
to  recover.     At  p.  535  the  Court  said: 

"It  may  be  said  that  writing  and  preparing  the  contract  and 
bond  is  not  practicing  law.  As  the  term  is  generally  understood, 
the  practice  of  law  is  the  doing  or  performing  services  in  court 
justice,  in  any  matter  depending  therein,  throughout  its  various 
stages,  and  in  conformity  to  the  adopted  rules  of  procedure.  But 
in  a  larger  sense  it  includes  legal  advice  and  counsel,  and  the  prep- 


AND    HIS   WORK  367 

aration  of  legal  instruments  and  contracts  by  which  legal  rights 
are  secured,  although  such  matter  may  or  may  not  be  depending 
in  court." 

In  re  Duncan  (1909),  83  S.  C.  186.  In  1908  Duncan  had  been 
disbarred.  Subsequently  one  J.  S.  was  convicted  of  crime  and 
sentenced  to  pay  ten  dollars  or  serve  a  term  in  prison.  He  was 
unable  to  obtain  ten  dollars,  so  he  went  to  jail.  His  wife  applied 
to  Duncan  to  raise  money  to  obtain  his  release.  Duncan  took 
five  dollars  in  cash  as  his  fee,  which  it  was  understood  he  was 
entitled  to  retain,  and  a  mortgage  for  ten  dollars  from  her  to  se- 
cure him  for  advances,  and  agreed  to  procure  his  release.  Owing 
to  the  fact  that  magistrate  who  had  sentenced  J.  S.  had  suse- 
quently  retired  from  the  bench,  the  proceedings  dragged  for  some 
time.  The  wife  of  the  prisoner  became  dissatisfied  so  Duncan  re- 
turned the  five  dollars  and  canceled  the  mortgage.  The  Court 
held  his  action  in  this  matter  amounted  to  practicing  law  and  was 
a  contempt  of  court.     At  p.  189,  the  court  said: 

"The  question  is,  whether  the  services  undertaken  and  per- 
formed by  Duncan  constituted  the  practice  of  law.  It  is  too  ob- 
vious for  discussion  that  the  practice  of  law  is  not  limited  to  the 
conduct  of  cases  in  courts.  According  to  the  generally  under- 
stood definition  of  the  practice  of  law  in  this  country,  it  embraces 
the  preparation  of  pleadings  and  other  papers  incident  to  actions 
and  special  pleadings  on  behalf  of  clients  before  judges  and  courts, 
and  in  addition  conveyancing,  the  preparation  of  legal  instruments 
of  all  kinds,  and  in  general  all  advice  to  clients  and  all  action 
taken  for  them  in  matters  connected  with  the  law.  An  attorney 
at  law  is  one  who  engages  in  any  of  those  branches  of  the  prac- 
tice of  law.  The  following  is  a  concise  definition  given  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States:  'Persons  acting  professionally 
in  legal  formalities,  negotiations  or  proceedings  by  the  warrant  or 
authority  of  their  clients  may  be  regarded  as  attorneys  at  law 
within  the  meaning  of  that  designation  as  employed  in  this  coun- 

"Under  these  difinitions  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Duncan 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  law" 

Savings  Bank  v.  Ward  (1879),  100  U.  S.  195. 

The  Court,  after  stating  that  an  attorney  is  liable  for  want  of 
reasonable  care  in  his  profession,  said,  at  p.  198: 

"Such  liabilities  frequently  arise,  and  an  attorney  may  also  be 
liable  to  his  client  for  the  consequences  of  his  want  of  reasonable 
care  or  skill  in  matters  not  in  litigation.  Business  men  not  in- 
frequently seek  advice  in  making  or  receiving  conveyances  of  real 
property,  and  it  is  well  settled  that  an  attorney  may  be  liable  to 
his  client  for  negligence  or  want  of  reasonable  care  and  skill  in  ex- 
amining titles  in  such  cases,  whether  the  error  occurs  in  respect  to 
the  title  of  property  purchased  or  in  the  covenants  in  the  instru- 
ment of  conveyance,  where  the  property  is  sold." 

Commonwealth  v.  Branthoover  (1900),  24  Pa.  County  Court 
Reporter  353. 

The  Court  said  at  p.  353: 

"An  attorney-at-law  is  an  officer  in  a  court  of  justice  whose 
profession  and  business  it  is  to  prepare  and  try  cases  in  the  courts 


368  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

and  give  advice  and  counsel  on  legal  matters  to  those  employing 
him." 

The  following  cases  show  more  specifically  what  acts  have 
actually  been  held  to  constitute  or  not  to  constitute  the  practice 
of  the  law. 

It  has  been  held  that  conducting  condemnation  proceedings, 
even  where  the  party  performing  the  services  disclaims  any  in- 
tention of  doing  legal  work  and  alleges  that  he  merely  made  in- 
vestigations as  to  matters  of  fact,  appraisals,  etc.,  is  practicing 
law. 

Matter  of  City  of  New  York  (two  cases — supra). 
Matter  of  Bensel  (1910),  68  Misc.  70. 

It  has  been  held  that  services  in  procuring  a  pardon  are  not 
legal  services,  and  that  it  is,  therefore,  no  defense  to  the  action  for 
such  services  that  the  plaintiff  was  not  an  attorney.  Bird  v. 
Breedlove  (1858),  24  Ga.  623.  At  p.  625,  the  Court  said  very  sum- 
marily : 

"Neither  of  these  reasons  was  sufficient. 

"(1)     As  to  the  first      ... 

"(2)  As  to  the  second — what  law  is  there  that  restricts  busi- 
ness of  this  sort  to  attorneys  at  law?     We  know  of  none. 

"Judgment  affirmed." 

This  case  would  seem,  however,  to  be  contra  in  general  spirit 
at  least  to  In  Re  Duncan  (supra). 

So  in  Dunlap  v.  Lebus  (1901),  112  Ky.  237,  it  was  held  that 
there  was  no  law  prohibiting  any  one,  thovigh  not  an  admitted 
attorney,  from  procuring  a  reduction  of  the  tax  and  being  paid 
for  such  service.  The  Court  said  that  this  was  not  practicing  in 
any  court,  and  that  the  questions  involved  were  merely  ones  of 
fact,  which  might  be  presented  as  well  by  any  layman  as  by  a 
lawyer. 

There  have  been  several  cases  where  an  unlicensed  individual 
performed  legal  services  both  in  the  nature  of  conducting  cases  in 
court  and  in  the  natvire  of  legal  advice,  and  upon  his  bringing  ac- 
tion for  such  services  the  fact  that  he  had  not  been  admitted  to 
the  bar  was  set  up  as  a  defense.  The  courts  in  all  these  cases 
held  that  the  plaintiff  could  not  recover,  and  while  they  failed  ex- 
pressly to  pass  upon  the  question,  this  decision  necessarily  implies 
that  the  giving  of  legal  advice  was  as  much  unauthorized  as  the 
conducting  of  cases  in  court;  for,  had  the  former  been  authorized, 
a  recovery  at  least  for  the  value  of  those  services  should  have  been 
allowed. 

Tedrick  v.  Hiner  (1871),  61  lU.  189. 

East  St.  Louis  v.  Freels  (1885),  17  111.  App.  339. 

Ames  V.  Oilman  (1845),  10  Mete.  239. 

Another  situation  is  presented  by  Nolan  v.  St.  Louis  &  San 
Francisco  R.  Co.  (1907),  19  Okla.  51.  Here  a  prehminary  notice 
which  was  a  condition  precedent  to  the  cause  of  action  involved 
was  signed,  not  by  the  plaintiff,  but  by  his  attorney.  The  de- 
fendant claimed  that  this  was  insufficient  without  the  showing  of 
any  authority  upon  the  part  of  the  attorney:  but  it  was  claimed 
for  the  plaintiff  that  an  attorney,  being  an  officer  of  the  court,  his 


AND    HIS    WORK  369 

authority  was  presumed.  The  court  said  that  this  was  true  while 
he  was  acting  as  an  attorney ;  that  the  giving  of  this  notice,  al- 
though it  was  not  a  proceeding  in  court,  was  within  the  scope  of 
his  professional  business  and  his  oath  of  office;  that  the  court 
would  have  authority  to  discipline  him  for  a  false  assumption  of 
authority  in  such  a  case,  and  that,  therefore,  the  presumption  was 
that  the  authority  did  exist. 

In  People  v.  Schreiber  (1911),  250  111.  345,  the  court  was  called 
upon  to  construe  a  statute  making  it  unlawful  for  any  person  not 
regularly  licensed  to  practice  law  to  hold  himself  out  as  an  attor- 
ney at  law,  or  represent  himself  as  such.  The  defendant  main- 
tained an  office,  had  a  rather  pretentious  law  library,  made  col- 
lections, prepared  conveyances,  examined  abstracts,  negotiated 
loans,  closed  real  estate  deals,  advised  parties  as  to  their  legal 
rights  and  generally  performed  such  services  for  his  clients  as  are 
usually  performed  by  attorneys.  He  also  stated  to  his  clients  that 
he  was  a  lawyer  and  did  all  the  legal  business  he  could  get,  except 
that  he  did  not  try  cases  or  appear  in  courts  of  record.  Without 
entering  into  any  discussion  which  would  be  of  any  value  in  mak- 
ing generalizations  upon  this  subject,  the  Court  held  that  his  acts 
were  clearly  in  violation  of  the  statute. 

In  Evans  v.  Funk  (1894),  151  lU.  650,  the  plaintiff  was  a  judge 
of  the  Probate  Court.  A  statute  of  Illinois  (Revised  Statutes, 
Chapter  13,  Sec.  10),  prohibited  a  judge  of  the  Probate  Court  from 
practicing  as  an  attorney  or  counselor  at  law  in  the  court  in  which 
he  presides.  A  will  in  this  case  had  been  admitted  to  probate 
by  the  plaintiff  Evans,  acting  as  such  judge.  The  heirs  at  law 
thereupon  filed  a  bill  in  chancery  in  the  Circuit  Court  to  set  aside 
the  probate.  Before  this  bill  came  to  trial  Evans  put  through  ne- 
gotiations for  the  settlement  of  the  entire  matter  and  got  a  fee  for 
his  services  It  was  held  that  this  act  was  practicing  as  an  attor- 
ney in  the  court  in  which  he  presides  within  the  statute,  and  that 
the  fee  paid  could  be  recovered  back  thereunder. 

In  the  case  of  Commonwealth  v.  Barton  (1902),  20  Pa.  Superior 

Court  Reporter  447,  funds  were  entrusted  to  an  attorney  by  his 
client  to  be  invested  by  him.  He  embezzled  the  funds  and  was 
indicted  under  a  statute  making  it  a  distinct  crime  to  commit  em- 
bezzlement as  an  attorne3^  It  was  held  that  he  was  guilty  within 
this  statute.     At  p.  449,  the  Court  said: 

"In  Pennsylvania  the  profession  of  attorney  includes  much 
more  than  the  mere  management  of  the  prosecution  and  defense 
of  litigated  cases.  Unquestionably  the  professional  relation  of  at- 
torney and  client  may  be  established  as  to  the  investment  of 
money.  Where  this  relation  exists  and  by  virtue  of  it  money  is 
entrusted  to  the  attorney  to  be  paid  to  a  borrower,  or  otherwise 
invested,  upon  satisfactory  security  being  given,  he  holds  it  for 
safe  custody  pending  the  consummation  of  the  loan  or  other  in- 
vestment. This  is  as  much  a  part  of  his  duty  as  attorney  as  in 
the  exercise  of  his  judgment  upon  the  legal  sufficiency  of  the  se- 
curity offered." 

In  the  recent  decision  of  L.  Meisel  &  Company  v.  National 
Jewelers  Board  of  Trade,  decided  at  the  February  Term,  1915,  by 
the  Appellate  Term,  First  Department,  New  York  Supreme  Court 
reported   in   the  "New  York   Law  Journal"  of  May  4th,    1915,  it 


370  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

appeared  that  the  appellant,  a  membership  corporation  organized 
as  a  Board  of  Trade  "for  purposes  other  than  pecuniary  profit," 
claimed  the  right  to  represent  a  creditor  in  bankruptcy  proceed- 
ings or  in  proceedings  on  behalf  of  the  creditor  in  the  matter  of 
the  general  assignment  of  a  bankrupt  for  the  benefit  of  creditors, 
to  advise  the  creditor  in  such  proceedings,  to  undertake  and  do 
all  the  things  appertaining  to  the  prosecution  of  the  creditor's 
claims  in  such  proceedings,  to  take  the  steps  necessary  to  protect 
the  creditor's  interest  therein,  and  make  a  charge  for  such  services. 
The  Court,  following  the  definition  in  the  Duncan  case  (83  S.  C. 
186)  that  the  practice  of  law  "is  not  limited  to  the  conduct  of  cases 
in  courts"  *  *  *  but  "embraces  the  preparation  of  pleadings 
and  otheri  papers  incident)  to  actions  and  special  proceedings  on 
behalf  of  clients  before  judges  and  courts,  and  in  addition  convey- 
ancing, and  preparation  of  legal  instruments  of  all  kinds,  and  in 
general,  all  advice  to  clients,  and  all  action  taken  for  them  in  mat- 
ters connected  with  the  law,"  held  that  the  acts  referred  to  did 
constitute  the  practice  of  law.  The  Court  also  quoted,  with  ap- 
proval, the  decision  in  Savings  Bank  v.  Ward,  100  U.  S.  195 :  "Per- 
sons acting  professionally  in  legal  formalities,  negotiations  or  pro- 
ceedings by  the  warrant  or  authority  of  their  clients  may  be  re- 
garded as  attorneys-at-law  within  the  meaning  of  that  designation, 
as  employed  in  this  country."  The  discussion  by  the  Court  in  the 
Meisel  case  is  of  value  in  determining  what  legally  constitutes  the 
practice  of  the  law: 

"Now  consider  the  services  ordinarily  incident  to  representing 
a  creditor  and  enforcing  his  claim  in  bankruptcy  matters,  such  as 
the  Wedgren  case  herein  involved.  The  promissory  notes  required 
examination  as  to  execution  and  the  form  of  the  signature,  i.  e., 
whether  the  maker  was  liable  in  an  individual  or  representative 
capacity,  whether  signed  in  a  trade  name  or  distinguished  from 
an  individual  name,  etc.  Inquiry  was  necessary  concerning  the 
inception  and  delivery  of  the  notes,  whether  for  value  or  accom- 
modation and  as  to  any  possible  defenses  or  counter  claims.  Act- 
ing on  this  information,  the  client  would  be  advised  whether  to 
proceed.  The  next  step  would  be  the  preparation  of  proof  of 
claims.  This  is  a  legal  instrument,  and  the  mere  fact  that  it  is 
on  a  printed  form  and  might  be  filled  out  by  a  layman  does  not 
change  its  character  any  more  than  the  fact  that  confessions  of 
judgment,  bills  of  costs,  affidavits  of  service  and  many  simple 
forms  of  pleading  on  notes  and  for  goods  sold  and  delivered  are 
frequently  printed  changes  their  character.  The  subsequent  steps 
that  ordinarily  occur,  such  as  joining  with  one  or  another  group 
of  creditors  in  the  selection  of  a  trustee,  expediting  or  opposing 
the  disposition  of  the  assets  of  the  bankrupt  estate,  the  consider- 
ation of  proposed  compromises,  reorganizations  and  substitution 
of  securities  for  claims,  the  various  problems  incidental  to  receiv- 
ership, the  form  in  which  dividends  are  received  and  receipted  for, 
and  innumerable  other  details  intervening  between  the  filing  of  a 
petition  in  bankruptcy  and  a  discharge,  all  involve  at  one  stage 
or  another  proceedings  on  behalf  of  the  client  in  courts,  the  prep- 
aration of  legal  instruments  of  various  kinds,  the  rendition  of  legal 
advice  and  action  taken  for  the  clients  in  matters  connected  with 
the  law.  These  services  require  special  knowledge,  the  fidehty  of  the 
relations  between  attorney  and  client,  responsibility  to  the  courts 


AND    HIS    WORK  371 

and,  for  success,  experience  in  what  is  generally  recognized  as  a 
special  line  of  legal  work.  Frequently  the  relation  requires  actual 
appearance  in  court  and  the  conduct  of  Htigation.  That  such  pro- 
ceedings are  contemplated  and  provided  for  by  this  Board  of  Trade 
in  its  relations  to  its  clients  is  shown  by  its  printed  form  of  vouch- 
er, containing  provisions  for  "costs,"  "suit  fee"  and  "fees."  That  the 
services  involved  and  contemplated  by  this  Board  of  Trade  in  repre- 
senting plaintiff  in  the  bankruptcy  of  Wedgren  and  prosecuting 
his  claim  therein  were  legal  services  seems  too  plain  to  require 
further  consideration.  Similarly,  in  representing  him  and  prose- 
cuting his  claim  against  the  Pacific  Jewelry  Company,  whose  prop- 
erty was  in  the  hands  of  a  general  assignee  for  the  benefit  of  cred- 
itors, the  services  were  legal  services,  and  for  the  most  part,  simi- 
lar in  kind  to  those  already  enumerated.  Ordinarily,  a  proper  rep- 
resentation of  the  creditor  in  such  matters  involves  an  examina- 
tion of  the  assignment,  consideration  of  its  validity,  the  sufficiency 
and  form  of  the  assignee's  bond,  an  examination  of  schedules, 
alertness  against  the  allowance  of  improper  claims,  keeping  track 
of  suits  brought  by  and  against  the  assignee,  the  accounting,  and 
a  multitude  of  other  important  details  that  will  at  once  occur  to 
any  practicing  lawyer." 

In  the  recent  decision  in  the  case  of  The  Grocers  and  Mer- 
chants' Bureau  v.  Gray,  Circuit  Court,  State  of  Tennessee,  First 
Circuit  (reported  "Nashville  Banner,"  Feb.  26,  1915 — "New  York 
Law  Journal,"  June  17,  1915),  Daniel  J.,  where  the  plaintiff  was  a 
trade  organization  in  these  respects  similar  to  the  National  Jewel- 
ers' Board  of  Trade,  performing  similar  services,  the  Court  said: 

"Attorneys  at  law  are  officers  of  the  court  in  which  they  are 
admitted  and  allowed  to  practice.  Th*ey  must  be  of  good  moral 
character  and  must  take  an  oath  to  support  the  constitution  of 
Tennessee  and  of  the  United  States.  They  are  under  oath  just  as 
much  as  the  judge  of  the  court  is  under  oath.  They  are  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  machinery  designed  for  the  fair  and  impartial 
administration  of  justice.  The  position  and  practice  of  any  attor- 
ney at  law  imply  and  require  something  higher  than  simply  an 
endeavor  to  secure  favorable  results  for  his  client.  They  are  so 
completely  a  part  of  the  court  that  the  presiding  judge  may  ex- 
ercise summary  jurisdiction  over  them  to  the  extent  of  depriving 
them  of  their  office  and  striking  them  from  the  rolls. 

In  Planters'  Bank  v.  Hornberger,  4  Cald.  571-572,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  this  state,  speaking  through  Special  Judge  Edward  H. 
East,  said: 

"  'An  attorney  is  a  man  set  apart  by  the  law  to  expound  to  all 
persons  who  seek  him  the  laws  of  the  land,  relating  to  high  interest 
of  property,  liberty  and  life.  To  this  end  he  is  licensed  and  per- 
mitted to  charge  for  his  services.  The  relation  he  bears  to  his 
client  implies  the  highest  trust  and  confidence.  The  client  lays 
bare  to  his  attorney  his  very  nature  and  heart,  leans  and  relies 
upon  him  for  support  and  protection  in  the  saddest  hours  of  his 
life.  Knowing  not  which  way  to  go  to  attain  his  rights,  he  puts 
himself  under  the  guidance  of  his  attorney  and  confides  that  he 
will  lead  him  aright.' 

"In  the  lawyers'  tax  cases.  8  Heisk.  631,  Chief  Justice  Nichol- 
son, in  quoting  from  the  Garland  case  among  other  things,  said: 


372  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

"  'It  is  said  by  a  majority  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
in  the  case  of  ex  parte  Garland,  4  Wall.  378,  that  "the  order  of 
admission  is  the  judgment  of  the  court  that  the  parties  possess 
the  requisite  qualifications  as  attorney  and  counselor  and  are  en- 
titled to  appear  as  such  and  conduct  causes  therein.  From  its 
entry  the  parties  became  officers  of  the  court  and  are  responsible 
to  it  for  professional  misconduct."  ' 

"And  on  page  632  Chief  Justice  Nicholson  quotes  from  the 
opinion  of  Mr.  Justice  Miller  in  the  same  case  as  follows: 

"  'They  (attorneys)  are  essential  to  the  successful  working  of 
the  courts  as  clerks,  cheriffs  and  marshals,  and  perhaps  as  the 
judges  themselves,  since  no  instance  is  known  of  a  court  of  law 
without  a  bar.'  " 

The  court  also  follows  the  Duncan  case.  This  decision  was 
rendered  in  February,  1915. 

During  the  past  year  the  state  of  Missouri  has  passed  a  stat- 
ute in  which  the  practice  of  law  is  defined  as  follows: 

"Section  1.  The  'practice  of  the  law'  is  hereby  defined  to  be 
and  is  the  appearance  as  an  advocate  in  a  representative  capacity 
of  the  drawing  of  papers,  pleadings  or  documents  or  the  perform- 
ance of  any  act  in  such  a  capacity  in  connection  with  proceedings 
pending  or  prospective  before  any  court  of  record,  commissioner, 
referee  or  any  body,  board,  committee  or  commission  constituted 
by  law  or  having  authority  to  settle  controversies.  The  'law  busi- 
ness' is  hereby  defined  to  be  and  is  the  advising  or  counseling  for 
a  valuable  consideration  of  any  person,  firm,  association  or  cor- 
poration as  to  any  secular  law  or  the  drawing  or  the  procuring  of 
or  assisting  in  the  drawing  for  a  valuable  consideration  of  any 
paper,  document  or  instrument  affecting  or  relating  to  secular 
rights  or  the  doing  of  any  act  for  a  valuable  consideration  in  a 
representative  capacity,  obtaining  or  tending  to  obtain  or  securing 
or  tending  to  secure  for  any  person,  firm,  association  or  corpora- 
tion any  property  or  property  rights  whatsoever." 

DIGEST  OF  STATE  LEGISLATION  RELATIVE  TO  UNLAW- 
FUL PRACTICE  OF  THE  LAW. 

Generally  throughout  the  United  States  any  one  may  manage 
his  own  case,  bringing  or  defending  an  action  in  his  own  behalf. 

In  South  CaroHna  any  person,  whether  admitted  to  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law  or  not,  may  bring  or  defend  an  action,  provided 
he  does  not  receive  a  fee  for  his  services. 

In  Washington  any  person,  whether  admitted  or  not,  may 
bring  or  defend  an  action  by  special  leave  of  the  court. 

In  New  Hampshire  any  citizen  in  good  standing  may  bring 
or  defend  an  action  in  behalf  of  another. 

But  throughout  the  United  States  in  nearly  all  other  states 
examinations  must  be  passed  and  certain  requirements  complied 
with  before  a  person  may  properly  hold  himself  out  as  entitled  to 
perform  services  usually  performed  by  a  lawyer. 

It  is  specifically  made  unlawful  for  any  tmadmitted  and  un- 
licensed person  to  practice  in  a  court  of  record  in  Alaska,  Arkan- 
sas, California,  Colorado,  District  of  Columbia,  Georgia,  Idaho,  Min- 
nesota, Missouri,  Montana,  Nebraska,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  New 
York  and  Utah. 


AND    HIS   WORK  373 

An  offense  against  this  inhibition  is  a  misdemeanor  in  Alaska, 
Missouri,  Nebraska,  Nevada  and  New  York.  The  maximum  fines 
in  these  states  range  from  $100  to  $500,  the  maximum  imprison- 
ment from  one  to  six  months. 

The  offense  is  designated  a  contempt  in  Arkansas,  California, 
Colorado,  Idaho,  Montana,  Nevada,  New  Mexico  and  Utah.  The 
maximum  fines  in  these  states  range  from  $50  to  $500  the  maxi- 
miom  imprisonment  from  five  to  ten  days. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  Nevada  the  offense  is  both  a  mis- 
demeanor and  a  contempt. 

To  practice  commonly  in  any  court  is  unlawful  in  Alabama, 
Arizona,  Connecticut,  Delaware,  Florida,  Hawaii,  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Iowa,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Maine,  Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Mich- 
igan, Mississippi,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  and  in  that  part 
of  New  York  state  included  within  the  boundaries  of  New  York 
Cit}',  New  York  County  and  Kings  County;  North  Carolina,  North 
Dakota,  Ohio,  Oklahoma,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island, 
South  Carolina  (providing  a  fee  is  charged).  South  Dakota,  Ten- 
nessee, Texas,  Utah,  Virginia,  Washington,  West  Virginia,  Wis- 
consin and  Wyoming. 

The  offense  is  a  misdemeanor  in  Illinois,  Kentucky,  Maine, 
Maryland,  Michigan,  New  York  State  and  South  Dakota,  with 
maximum  fines  ranging  from  $100  to  $500,  and  maximum  impris- 
onment ranging  from  one  month  to  one  year. 

The  offense  is  a  contempt  in  Iowa  and  North  Carolina,  with 
maximum  fines  of  S250  and  $50,  and  a  maximum  imprisonment 
of  thirty  days  and  one  day. 

In  Alabama  the  special  punishment  is  a  maximum  fine  of 
$200;  in  Delaware  a  maximum  fine  of  $500  and  maximum  impris- 
onment of  two  3'ears;  in  South  Carolina  there  is  a  maximum  fine 
of  $500. 

Whether  one  appears  in  a  court  or  not  it  is  unlawful  to  mis- 
represent oneself  to  be  an  attorney  in  Massachusetts,  Nebraska, 
Colorado,  California,  Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  South  Carolina, 
South  Dakota,  Texas,   Washington,  West  Virginia  and  Wyoming. 

The  offense  is  a  misdemeanor  in  Nebraska,  California,  Penn- 
sylvania, South  Carolina  and  West  Virginia,  involving  maximum 
fines  ranging  from  $100  to  $500  and  maximum  imprisonment  rang- 
ing from  thirty  days  to  one  year.  In  Massachusetts  the  punish- 
ment is  a  maximum  fine  of  $100  and  maximum  imprisonment  of 
six  months 

Unless  one  is  an  admitted  attorney  it  is  imlawful  to  receive 
a  fee  for  professional  advice  in  Maryland,  Minnesota — and  in  Mis- 
souri where  the  advice  concerns  probate  matters.  The  maximum 
fine  is  $100,  maximum  imprisonment  thirty  days. 

Statutes  specifically  provide  against  the  recovery  of  a  fee  in 
case  the  foregoing  sections  are  violated  in  Arizona  and  Maine. 

The  general  grounds  for  revoking  an  attorney's  license  are  the 
commis.'^ion  of  a  felony  or  a  misdemeanor  involving  more  turpi- 
tude, deceit  or  willful  misconduct,  violation  of  oath,  refusal  to 
obey  court's  orders  with  respect  to  professional  duty.  In  each 
state  there  is  provision  disqvialifying  from  practice  a  clerk  of  the 
Supreme  or  Superior  Court,  deputy  or  assistant  clerk,  sheriff,  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  or  a  county  commissioner. 


374  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

There  are  statutes  in  Louisiana,  Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Min- 
nesota, Mississippi,  New  Jersej^,  Ohio,  Oklahoma  and  Oregon,  gen- 
erally referring  to  malpractice  and  unprofessional  conduct  which 
may  be  construed  with  respect  to  solicitation,  and  penalizing  the 
same  with  disbarment  or  damages,  fine  or  imprisonment. 

Apparently  in  but  one  state — New  York — are  corporations  spe- 
cifically prohibited  from  appearing  as  attorney  for  another  than 
itself,  from  practicing  or  assuming  to  practice,  from  furnishing  legal 
advice,  from  furnishing  attorneys  or  soliciting  claims. 

But  it  would  seem  that  special  qualifications  required  of  at- 
torneys in  the  several  states  would  make  it  unlawful  for  a  corpo- 
ration to  engage  or  assume  to  engage  in  the  general  practice  of 
the  law. 

In  New  York  the  penalty  under  the  statute  is  $5,000  fine,  the 
ofificers  being  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor. 

Corporations  organized  to  examine  titles  to  real  property  and 
to  insure  them  and  benevolent  corporations  are  excepted  by  the 
law. 

TITLE  COMPANIES. 

The  drawing  of  deeds  and  the  searching  of  titles  was  at  one 
time  the  work  of  men  not  always  educated  as  lawyers  and  not 
always  admitted  to  the  practice  of  the  law.  With  the  coming  in 
of  modern  corporate  methods  the  searching  and  examination  of 
titles  became  a  natural  part  of  the  insurance  of  titles,  and  insur- 
ance of  titles  was  a  matter  of  importance  in  the  easier  transfer  of 
real  estate. 

Title  companies  were  chartered,  primarily,  to  insure  titles.  To 
examine  and  search  titles  was  an  incident  to  this  insuring  function. 

If  the  title  company  is  to  insure  a  title,  may  it  draw  the  deed 
upon  which  the  policy  is  to  be  issued?  May  it  draw  the  contract 
for  the  purchase  and  sale  of  the  property?  May  it  ofifer  to  draw 
the  deed  and  furnish  the  services  of  a  lawyer  in  that  connection, 
in  order  that  it  may  have  the  opportunity  of  insuring  the  title? 
May  it  conduct  litigation  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  a  title  in  the 
name  of  a  possible  insurer?  To  what  extent  are  these  things 
"necessarily  incident  to  the  exercise  of  the  authorized,  specifically 
granted  powers  contained  in  its  charter?  These  are  the  matterswe 
must  consider. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  things  which  they  do  as  title  com- 
panies must  be  distinguished  from  those  things  which  they  do  as 
trust  companies.  It  is  clear  that  insofar  as  they  perform  the  func- 
tions of  trust  companies,  they  have  no  greater  powers  than  any 
other  corporate  trust  company.  When,  therefore,  the  trust  com- 
pany ofifers  to  draw  ones  will,  as  a  means  of  securing  the  position 
of  trustee  under  the  will,  and  offers  the  services  of  its  own  attor- 
neys for  the  purpose,  it  must  find  its  authority  in  some  express 
provision  of  law  distinguishing  it  from  any  other  corporation.  The 
case  is  not  the  simple  case  of  the  ordinary  request  of  a  lay  trustee 
that  his  own  counsel  be  permitted  to  draw  the  trust  deed  or  will. 
The  interest  of  the  grantor  is  not  identical  with  the  interest  of  the 
trustee,  and  ordinaritly  the  trustees'  lawyer  would  not  be  qualified 
to  safeguard  the  interests  of  the  grantor.  By  what  change  in  profes- 
sional attitude  has  it  become  proper  for  him,  who  is  the  paid  coun- 


AND    HIS    WORK  375 

sel  for  the  trustee,  to  be  also  the  counsel  for  the  grantor?  And  if 
he  is  to  be  paid  for  his  services  and  the  employment  is  secured  by 
solicitation  or  advertising,  how  has  the  nature  and  character  of  the 
service  been  distinguished  from  that  of  any  lawyer  whose  business 
is  solicited  through  his  efforts? 

Canon  27  of  the  American  Bar  Association,  approved  by  the 
Commercial  Law  League,  refers  to  such  trust  companies  as  "tout- 
ers."     The  language  is; 

"But  socilitation  of  business  by  circulars  or  advertisements,  or 
by  personal  communications  or  interviews,  not  warranted  by  per- 
sonal relations  is  unprofessional.  It  is  equally  unprofessional  to 
procure  business  by  indirection  through  touters  of  any  kind, 
whether  allied  real  estate  firms  or  trust  companies  advertising  to 
secure  the  drawing  of  deeds  or  wills  or  offering  retainers  in  ex. 
change  for  executorships  or  trusteeships  to  be  influenced  by  the 
lawyer." 

The  condemnation  of  such  practices  by  the  Court  is  universal. 
Judge  Kelly,  in  the  case  of  United  States  Title  Guaranty  Company 
V.  Brown,  said: 

"The  profession  of  the  law,  one  of  the  oldest  known  to  civiliza- 
tion, involving  the  most  sacred  confidence  between  man  and  man, 
with  its  past  of  high  ideals  and  service  to  humanity,  has  in  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  suffered  much  from  the  inroads  of  the  new 
financial  and  business  methods  in  this  great  land  of  ours.  Whether 
by  ill-advised  attempts  by  corporate  employers  to  dominate  and 
direct  attorneys  and  counsel  in  the  conduct  of  litigation,  whether 
by  so-called  title  companies  or  casualty  insurance  corporations,  the 
old  ideals  in  the  relation  of  attorney  and  client,  which  meant  so 
much  to  mankind,  have  suffered  and  have  been  threatened  with 
demoralization.  This  is  wrong.  The  loss  of  the  individual  personal 
relation  involved  in  the  attempt  by  corporations  to  practice  law  is 
so  serious  to  the  community  that  it  is  against  public  policy,  and  1 
am  inclined  to  think  malum  in  se,  but  at  any  rate  there  is  no  ques- 
tion that  in  this  state  it  is  unlawful  by  force  of  statute..' 

In  Gauler  v.  Solicitor's  L.  &  T.  Co.,  9  Pa.  Co.  Ct.  R.,  634,  the 
Court  said: 

"This  defense  is  based  on  the  notion  that  not  only  may  title 
insurance  companies  do  conveyancing,  but  that  they  must  be  em- 
ployed to  do  it)  in  order  to  hold  them  on  their  policies.  This  is  a 
great  mistake.  They  have  no  right  whatever  to  do  conveyancing, 
draw  deeds,  write  wills  and  the  like.  Their  conduct  in  this  respect 
is  a  usurpation  on  the  commonwealth.  No  Act  of  Assembly  au- 
thorized them  to  do  any  such  acts,  and  in  these  days  of  corporate 
greed,  it  is  well  to  remind  them  that  the  law  under  which  they  are 
allowed  to  insure  titles,  and  to  make  such  contracts,  agreements, 
policies  and  other  instruments  as  may  be  required  therefor  (Act 
of  May  9,  1887,  P.  L.  159),  authorizes  them  to  maKe  and  perfect 
only  such  contracts  as  may  be  required  to  insure  titles,  and  not 
to  make  or  convey  them.  The  argument  that  unless  they  are  per- 
mitted to  draw  deeds  and  convey  titles,  they  will  have  none  to 
insure,  is  as  specious  as  would  be  an  agreement  that  a  fire  insur- 
ance company  should  be  allowed  to  make  contracts  to  build  houses 
in  order  to  insure  them.  The  consequence  of  this  usurpation  is  not 
only  the  diversion  of  their  legitimate  business  from  lawyers  and 
conveyancers,  but  the  best  school  of  the  students  of  law,  the  law 


376  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

of  real  estate,  is  being  destroyed.  Knowledge  of  the  foundation  of 
the  law  and  accuracy'-  and  precision  in  the  use  of  law  language  is 
becoming  obsolete.  It  is  bad  enough  that  such  usurpations  are 
tolerated  without  interference,  but  it  is  much  worse  to  see  the  de- 
nial of  them  set  up  as  a  defense  on  a  policy  of  insurance,  which 
the  company  is  authorized  to  issue  and  on  which,  as  in  this  case, 
it  is  clearly  liable." 

Obviously  to  become  a  trustee  or  executor  under  a  will  does 
not  require  that  the  trustee  or  executor  shall  draw  the  will  or  the 
trust  deed.  Indeed,  so  modern  is  the  practice  of  trustees  in  pub- 
licly oflfering  themselves  as  fiduciaries  that  it  only  began  when 
trustees  and  executors  were  permitted  to  don  the  corporate  form. 
No  one  would  have  thought  of  a  private  individual  publicly  ad- 
vertising to  become  trustee  or  executor  under  a  will  and  agreeing 
additionally,  as  an  inducement,  that  he  would  have  his  own  lawyer 
draw  the  trust  deed  or  will.  How,  then,  can  it  be  said  that  the 
drawing  of  the  instrument  creating  the  office  is  a  necessary  and 
incidental  exercise  of  the  charter  power  to  act  as  such  an  officer? 
If  this  position  taken  by  the  title  companies  is  unsound,  then  their 
entire  reasoning  falls  to  the  ground,  insofar  as  it  is  applicable  to 
those  advertisements  relating  to  trusts;  and  this  applies  with  equal 
force  to  all  the  trust  companies.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  cer- 
tain matters  are  clear: 

1.  Neither  a  title  company  nor  a  trust  company  may  offer  to 
draw  a  deed  of  trust  or  a  will  for  the  purpose  of  becoming  trustee 
or  executor. 

2.  Neither  a  title  nor  a  trust  company  may  offer  to  furnish 
legal  service  or  advice  in  the  drawing  of  a  deed  of  trust  or  will. 

3.  Lawyers  who  participate  in  such  practices  and  receive  re- 
tainers under  such  circumstances  are  violating  the  canons  of  ethics 
of  their  profession. 

Proceedings  are  now  pending  in  New  York  involving  these 
issues,  before  the  Attorney-General  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Efforts  made  by  the  title  companies  to  secure  an  amendment  to 
section  280  of  the  Penal  Law  of  the  state  during  the  session  of 
the  legislature  in  1915  were  unsuccessful. 

THE  PRACTICE  OF  THE  LAW  BY  CORPORATIONS. 

It  is  quite  clear  from  the  authorities  cited  in  Part  I  that,  re- 
gardless of  statutes  like  section  280  of  the  Penal  Law  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  a  corporation  may  not  practice  law  nor  furnish  legal 
advice  or  legal  services. 

THE  RELATION  OF  LAWYERS  TO  THE  UNLAWFUL  PRAC- 
TICE OF  THE  LAW. 

The  participation  by  a  lawyer  in  the  unlawful  practire  of  the 
law  by  a  corporation  or  lay  individual  is,  in  itself,  an  unprofes- 
sional act.  In  New  York  several  proceedings  are  now  pending 
against  members  of  the  Bar  for  participating  in  such  practices 
with  lay  clients,  corporate  and  individvial.  The  opinion  of  the 
court  in  these  matters  will  have  value  in  clarifying  this  situation. 


AND    HIS    WORK  377 

THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  LAY  AGENCIES  FOR  THE  SOLIC- 
ITING OF  LAW  BUSINESS. 

This  is  condenmned  by  the  Canons  of  Ethics  of  the  American 
Bar  Association,  adopted  by  the  League,  and  in  its  various  phases 
discussed  in  the  questions  and  answers  of  the  Committee  on  Pro- 
fessional Ethics  of  the  New  York  County  Lawyers'  Association. 
(See  Questions  and  Answers  4,  8,  23,  24,  36,  42,  46,  47,  65,  68,  74,  80 
and  89.) 

Solicitation  of  business  is  unlawful  in  Georgia  (penalty,  dis- 
barment with  a  maximum  fine  if  $1,000,  six  months'  imprisonment), 
in  Maryland  (penalty,  suspension  from  practice  with  a  maximum 
fine  of  $100  and  thirty  days'  imprisonment),  but  this  applies  only 
to  solicitation  of  criminal  business;  in  Nevada  (if  the  solicitation 
is  in  the  form  of  advertising,  disbarment)  ;  in  North  Dakota  (dis- 
barment) ;  Virginia  (if  the  litigation  solicited  is  against  the  State 
or  State  officers,  loss  of  license,  $300  fine,  sixty  days'  imprison- 
ment) ;  in  Washington  (solicitation  in  jails,  hospitals,  police  courts, 
etc.,  six  months). 

Barratry  is  unlawful  in  Alaska,  Arizona,  Colorado,  Illinois  and 
Louisiana  and  generally  throughout  the  country.  The  offender  is 
generally  liable  to  be  disbarred  and  may  be  subject  to  a  maximum 
fine  of  $1,000  and  six  months'  imprisonment. 

Advertising  for  divorce  business  is  specifically  made  unlawful 
in  Alaska,  Illinois,  Minnesota  and  Rhode  Island.  Offenders  are 
liable  to  maximtun  fines  ranging  from  $100  to  $500,  and  maximum 
imprisonment  of  six  months. 

Capping  in  hospitals,  jails,  etc.,  is  vagrancy  in  California,  fel- 
ony in  Louisiana,  if  the  capper  is  a  court  officer;  a  misdemeanor 
in  Maryland,  if  the  capper  is  an  officer;  and  is  deemed  malpractice 
in  Oregon  where  the  business  solicited  arises  out  of  personal  in- 
juries. 

In  Wisconsin  the  following  statute  was  introduced.  It  was 
not  passed: 

STATE  OF  WISCONSIN. 

Section  1.  There  is  added  to  the  statutes  a  new  section  to 
read:  Section  5404m.  (1).  No  person  admitted  to  practice  as 
a  member  of  the  bar  of  any  court  of  this  state  shall,  either  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  by  himself  or  by  any  person,  either  before  or 
after  action  brought,  promise  or  give  any  valuable  consideration 
to  any  person  or  corporation  as  an  inducement  to  the  placing,  or 
in  consideration  of  having  placed,  in  his  hands,  or  in  the  hands  of 
another,  any  claim  for  damages  of  any  nature  whatever,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  an  action  thereon,  or  of  conducting  or  assist- 
ing in  the  conduct,  or  prosecution,  or  defense,  of  any  action,  pro- 
ceeding or  claim  of  any  character. 

(2).  No  person  admitted  to  practice  law  in  any  court  of  this 
state  shall,  either  directly  or  indirectl3^  receive  or  accept  any  fee  or 
compensation  for  services  from  any  person,  other  than  an  attorney 
or  counselor  at  law,  duly  admitted  to  practice  in  a  court  of  record 
in  this  state,  or  a  person  claiming  to  be  legally  entitled  to  recover 
or  defend  in  an  action  or  upon  a  claim  in  his  own  right  or  by 
right  of  representation. 


378  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

(3).  No  person  admitted  to  practice  in  any  court  of  this  state 
shall,  directly  or  indirectly,  divide  or  share  with  any  person  not 
admitted  to  practice  law  in  a  court  of  this  state,  any  fee,  emolu- 
ment or  compensation  of  any  kind  or  nature;  nor  shall  any  claim 
adjuster  or  solicitor  of  business  or  policeman,  court  or  prison  oflfi- 
cial,  sheriff  or  jailer,  physician,  hospital  attache,  or  any  other  per- 
son, pay  or  offer  to  pay,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  any  person  ad- 
mitted to  practice  law  in  any  court  of  this  state,  or  receive  or 
offer  to  receive  from  any  such .  person,  or  firm  any  claimant  or 
litigant,  anything  of  value  as  a  consideration  for  the  placing  or 
having  placed  in  the  hands  of  such  practitioner  any  business  re- 
quiring services  from  such  practitioner. 

(4).  Every  person  convicted  of  a  violation  of  any  of  the  pro- 
visions of  this  section  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  in  the 
state  prison  for  not  more  than  one  year,  or  by  a  fine  of  not  more 
than  five  hundred  dollars,  nor  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  or 
by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment.  Every  such  conviction  of 
a  person  admitted  to  practice  law  in  this  state  shall  operate  as 
an  annulment'  of  his  license  to  appear  as  an  attorney  or  counselor 
at  law  in  any  court  of  the  state. 

Section  2.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  passage  and  publi- 
cation. 

Many  bar  associations  throughout  the  country  are  now  taking 
the  matter  up  and  movements  in  the  direction  of  legislation  and 
of  disciplining  of  attorneys  may  be  expected  from  other  quarters. 

L.  MEISEL  &  CO.  VS.  NATIONAL  JEWELERS'  BOARD  OF 

TRADE. 

The  case  against  the  National  Jewelers'  Board  of  Trade  was 
decided  in  the  New  York  Supreme  Court  at  its  February  term  in 
1915.  It  was  an  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  the  Municipal  Court 
of  the  City  of  New  York  against  the  board.  It  presented  the 
question  as  to  what  amounts  to  the  practice  of  the  law  on  the 
part  of  a  corporation. 

Briefly  L.  Meisel  &  Co.  asked  the  National  Jewelers'  Board 
of  Trade  (a  New  York  membership  corporation)  to  collect  a  claim 
against  one  F.  W.  Wedgren,  who  was  in  bankruptcy.  The  re- 
spondent was  informed  that  he  would  have  to  file  the  claim  in 
bankruptcy  with  the  board  to  enable  it  to  collect.  Meisel  brought 
the  notes  representing  the  claim  to  the  board  and  at  their  request 
signed  a  proof  of  his  claim  prepared  in  the  board's  office.  After- 
wards the  board  sent  to  Meisel  a  check  for  $6.76  which  purported 
to  be  the  amount  collected,  less  $3.00  charged  by  the  board  for  its 
services.  It  appears  that  Meisel  had  another  claim  against  the 
Pacific  Jewelry  Co.,  which  he  also  placed  with  the  board  and 
which  the  board  collected  and  remitted,  less  fees.  Meisel  at  the 
time  of  the  transaction  was  not  a  member  of  the  board. 

In  the  Board  of  Trade's  form  of  voucher  attached  to  the  check 
in  the  case  of  Wedgren,  the  charges  of  $3.00  is  set  opposite  the 
item  "suit  fee." 

The  question  the  court  considered  was  whether  a  member- 
ship corporation  organized  as  a  Board  of  Trade  "for  purposes  other 
than  pecuniary   profit"  had  the   right   to  act  for  a  creditor  in  a 


AND    HIS    WORK  379 

bankruptcy  proceeding.  The  answer  the  court  said  depended  on 
whether  such  services  as  were  rendered  constituted  legal  services. 
For  if  they  did,  the  conduct  of  the  board  aws  illegal,  Being  both  ma- 
lum in  se  and  malum  prohibitum.  That  the  practice  of  law  by  a 
corporation  is  contrary  to  public  policy  and  malum  in  se  was  de- 
cided by  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  matter  of  Co-Operative  Law 
Company,  198  N.  Y.  479.  That  the  practice  is  malum  prohibitum 
the  court  says  is  obvious  for  the  mere  reading  of  section  280  of 
the  New  York  Penal  Law.  This  law  declares  that  it  is  unlawful 
for  any  corporation: 

(1).  To  practice  or  appear  as  an  attorney  at  law  for  any  per- 
son other  than  itself  in  any  court  in  this  state,  or  before  any  ju- 
dicial body. 

(2).  To  make  it  a  business  to  practice  as  an  attorney  at  law 
for  any  person  other  than  itself  in  any  of  said  courts. 

(3).  To  hold  itself  out  to  the  public  as  being  entitled  to  prac- 
tice law. 

(4).    To  render  or  furnish  legal  service  or  advice. 

(5).    To  furnish  attorneys  or  counsel. 

(6).  To  render  legal  services  of  any  kind  in  actions  or  pro- 
ceedings of  any  nature  or  in  any  other  way  or  manner. 

(7).  In  any  other  manner  to  assume  to  be  entitled  to  prac- 
tice law. 

(8).  To  assume,  use  or  advertise  the  title  of  lawyer  or  at- 
torney-at-Iaw  or  equivalent  terms  in  such  manner  as  to  convey 
the  impression  that  it  is  entitled  to  practice  law,  or  to  furnish 
legal  advice,  service  or  counse;!. 

(9).  To  advertise  that— it  has,  owns,  conducts  or  maintains 
a  law  office  or  an  office  for  the  practice  of  law  or  for  furnishing 
legal  advice,  services  or  counsel. 

(10).  To  solicit  or  through  its  officers,  agents,  or  employes 
any  claim  or  demand  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  an  action  there- 
on or  of  representing  an  attorney  at  law  or  for  furnishing  legal 
advice,  services  or  counsel  to  a  person  sued  or  about  to  be  sued — 
or  who  may  be  afifected  by  an  action  or  proceeding  which  has 
been  or  may  be  instituted  in  any  court  or  before  any  judicial  body 
or  for  the  purpose  of  so  representing  any  person  in  the  pursuit  of 
any  civil  remedy. 

In  determining  whether  the  transactions  disclosed  in  the  case 
constituted  the  practice  of  law,  the  court  referred  to  Re  Duncan 
(1909),  83  S.  C.  186,  p.  189;  Thornton  on  Attorneys  at  Law,  in 
section  69,  Eley  v.  Miller;  7  Ind.  App.  529,  535,  Matter  of  City  of 
New  York,  144  A.  D.  107;  Matter  of  Bensel,  140  A.  D.  944,  afifd. 
201  N.  Y.  531;  Buxton  v.  Lietz,  136  N.  Y.  Supp.  829,  139  N.  Y. 
Supp.  46. 

The  board  having  cited  Matter  of  Associated  Lawyers  Co.,  134 
A.  D.  350,  as  holding  that  a  corporation  could  act  as  a  collection 
agency,  the  court  declared  that  in  the  case  referred  to  the  court 
did  not  so  hold,  but  that  its  words  used  in  this  connection  were 
obiter  and  unnecessary  to  the  decision. 

The  court  in  the  case  we  are  reviewing  went  outside  of  its  way  to 
say,  "there  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  in  favor  of  holding  that  the  oper- 
ation of  a  collection  agency,  with  or  without  legal  proceedings, 


3S0  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

constitutes  the  practice  of  law,  and  to  bolster  up  its  view  it  re- 
ferred to  the  address  of  Charles  A.  Boston  before  the  Cape  May 
Convention  of  the  League  in  1913;  the  report  of  the  Committee 
on  Professional  Ethics  of  the  American  Bar  Association  for  1914; 
the  address  by  George  W.  Wickersham  before  the  Bar  Association 
of  Chicago  in  1914;  the  brief  submitted  by  the  Committee  on  un- 
lawful Practice  of  the  Law  of  the  New  York  County  Lawyers' 
Association,  in  the  Matter  of  the  Application  of  Charles  L.  Apfel 
V.  The  National  Jewelers'  Board  of  Trade,  before  the  Attorney 
General;  and  the  report  of  the  Attorney  General  in  the  Matter  of 
Charles  L.  Apfel,  for  the  institution  of  an  action  to  vacate  the 
charter  and  annul  the  corporate  existence  of  the  National  Jew- 
elers' Board  of  Trade,  reported  in  the  New  York  Law  Journal, 
September  14,  1914. 

The  judgment  of  the  lower  court  to  the  effect  that  the  con- 
duct of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  this  case  was(  illegal,  was  affirmed. 

GROCERS    AND    MERCHANTS'    BUREAU    OF    NASHVILLE 
V.  DR.  W.  E.  GRAY. 

This  action  was  brought  by  the  bureau  against  Dr.  Gray  to 
collect  the  sum  of  $10.00,  growing  out  of  a  written  contract  which 
provided  that  in  consideration  of  $10.00  to  be  paid  monthly  at 
the  rate  of  80  cents  per  month,  the  Bureau  would  fvirnish  "the 
following  improved  and  strictly  up-to-date  service":  1 — Rating 
book,  2 — Supplements,  3 — Standing  of  newcomers,  4 — Special  re- 
ports in  Nashville,  5 — Special  reports  in  Tennessee,  6 — List  of 
bankrupts,  7 — Free  notary  work,  8 — Free  legal  advice  regarding 
commercial  matters,  9 — To  keep  office  open  every  Saturday  even- 
ing until  six  o'clock. 

Dr.  Gray  defended  the  suit  on  the  ground  that  the  contract 
was  contrary  to  the  pviblic  policy  of  the  state  and  was  therefore 
illegal  and  void. 

The  trial  of  the  case  below  resulted  in  the  dismissal  of  the 
plaintiff's  case.  Judgment  was  appealed  to  the  Court  of  Civil  Ap- 
peals and  the  judgment  was  affirmed. 

The  plaintiff  was  shown  to  be  a  collection  agency  incorpo- 
rated under  Chapter  58  of  the  Acts  of  1901,  providing  for  the 
organization  of  corporations  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  com- 
mercial, mercantile  and  collection  agencies  for  the  collection  of 
debts  and  for  the  purposes  usual  and  appropriate  to  the  business 
of  such  agencies. 

The  defendant  claimed  that  the  plaintiff  was  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  the  law  and  that  such  a  contract  was  illegal  except 
when  made  by  a  fully  licensed  attorney.  It  was  further  insisted 
that  the  contract  was  void  on  the  ground  that  it  was  solicited  by 
the  plaintiff. 

It  was  shown  that  the  plaintiff  employed  a  reputable  and 
competent  member  of  the  Nashville  Bar  to  give  to  its  clients  the 
legal  advice  which  it  contracted  to  furnish.  Coimsel  for  the  plain- 
tiff admitted  that  the  corporation  was  not  entitled  to  practice  law, 
but  that  in  pursuing  the  course  of  furnishing  counsel  it  was  not 
attempting  to  practice  law. 

In  discussing  the  question  as  to  whether  the  corporation  un- 
der   the    circumstances    related    was    attempting    to    practice    law. 


AND   HIS   WORK  381 

the  court  cited  the  matter  of  the  Co-Operative  Law  Co.,  198  N.  Y. 
479,  19  Am.  &  Eng.  Ann.  Cas.  879,  and  approved  of  the  opinion 
set  forth  as  to  the  reasons  why  a  corporation  cannot  practice  law, 
either  directly  or  indirectly. 

The  case  of  Re  Duncan,  reported  in  83  S.  C.  186,  holding  that 
any  advice  given  to  clients  or  action  taken  for  them  in  matters 
connected  with  the  law,  is  praticing  law,  was  also  cited  with  ap- 
proval. 

The  court  held  that  under  the  definitions  laid  down  in  the 
cases  and  the  satutes,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  giving 
of  legal  advice  regarding  commercial  matters  is  engaging  in  the 
practice  of  law,  and  the  fact  that  the  plaintif?  employed  a  licensed 
attorney  to  perform  the  servace  for  him  did  not  relieve  the  act  of 
illegality. 

MISSOURI  LAWS   RELATING  TO  THE  UNLAWFUL  PRAC- 
TICE OF  THE  LAW. 

Missouri  Laws,  1915,  page  100:  Section  2.  No  person  shall 
engage  in  the  "practice  of  law"  or  do  "law  business"  as  defined 
in  section  1  hereof,  or  both  unless  he  shall  have  been  duly  licensed 
therefor  and  while  his  license  therefor  is  in  full  force  and  effect, 
nor  shall  any  association  or  corporation  engage  in  the  "practice 
of  law"  or  do  "law  business"  as  defined  in  section  1  hereof,  or 
both.  Any  person,  association  or  corporation  who  shall  violate 
the  foregoing  prohibition  of  this  section  shall  be  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor and  upon  conviction  therefor  shall  be  punished  by  a 
fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars  and  costs  of  prosecution 
and  shall  be  subject  to  be  svied  for  treble  the  amount  which  shall 
have  been  paid  him  or  it  for  any  service  rendered  in  violation 
hereof  by  the  person,  firm,  association  or  corporation  paying  the 
same  within  two  years  from  the  date  same  shall  have  been  paid 
and  if  within  said  time  such  person,  firm,  association  or  corpora- 
tion shall  neglect  and  fail  to  sue  for  or  recover  such  treble  amount, 
then  the  State  of  Missouri  shall  have  the  right  to  and  shall  sue 
for  such  treble  amount  and  recover  the  same  and  upon  the  re- 
covery thereof  such  treble  amount  shall  be  paid  into  the  treasury 
of  the  State  of  Missouri.  It  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the  at- 
torney general  of  the  State  of  Missouri  or  the  prosecuting  attorney 
of  any  county  or  city  in  which  service  of  process  may  be  had 
upon  the  person,  firm,  association  or  corporation  liable  hereunder, 
to  institute  all  suits  necessary  for  the  recovery  by  the  State  of 
Missouri  of  such  amounts  in  the  name  and  on  behalf  of  the  state. 

Approved  March  22,  1915. 

Missouri  Laws,  1915,  page  265:  Section  4067a.  No  person 
whomsoever  shall  practice  in  the  Probate  Court,  it  being  a  court 
of  record,  other  than  a  regular,  licensed,  practicing  and  reputable 
attorney,  so  authorized  in  this  state;  and  no  person  shall  receive 
any  pay  nor  compensation  for  any  legal  service,  for  making  set- 
tlements, annual  or  final,  fiUng  petitions  or  other  documents  in 
any  estate,  other  than  such  regularly  licensed  attorney,  and  no 
Probate  Court  shall  allow  nor  permit  any  pay  or  fee  for  any  such 
services  to  any  person,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  for  any  pur- 
pose. Nor  shall  any  administrator  or  executor  or  guardian  em- 
ploy or  pay   to  any   such  person  other  than  an  attorney.       The 


382  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Probate  Court  shall  not  allow  any  unreasonable,  excessive  or  un- 
just fee  or  compensation  to  be  taxed  to  any  attorney,  in  any 
estate,  and  in  no  case  shall  such  court  allow  any  fee  whatever 
when  the  work,  service  or  advice  done  or  performed  or  given  by 
any  attorney  is  wrong,  improper  or  injurious  to  the  estate.  Any 
person  whomsoever  practicing,  charging  or  receiving  fees  in  the 
Probate  Court  without  being  an  attorney  as  herein  required,  shall 
be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  and  upon  conviction  shall  be  pun- 
ished by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $10  nor  more  than  $100,  or  by 
imprisonment  not  to  exceed  thirty  days  in  the  county  jail  or  by 
both  such  fine  and  imprisonment.  Provided,  nothing  in  this  sec- 
tion shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  any  executor,  adminis- 
trator or  guardian  from  making  their  own  settlements  and  man- 
agement of  their  estates  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  court  entered  of 
record  such  persons  are  capable  of  so  doing  and  the  estate  will 
not  be  injured  thereby,  but  be  legally  and  properly  administered. 
Approved  March  23,  1915. 

MARYLAND    LAW   DIRECTED    AGAINST   CORPORATIONS 
PRACTICING  LAW. 

The  long-standing  complaint  of  the  legal  profession  against 
trust  companies  and  other  corporations  which,  by  advertisement 
and  otherwise,  have  been  taking  away  form  lawyers  a  great  deal 
of  the  most  Ivicrative  practice  finds  expression  in  Chapter  695  of 
the  Acts  of  1916  of  Maryland. 

The  statute  prohibits  any  corporation  or  voluntary  associa- 
tion from  holding  itself  out  under  the  title  of  lawyer  or  any  equiv- 
alent term,  or  from  creating  an  impression  thSt,  either  alone  or 
together  with  some  lawyer,  it  conducts  a  law  office  or  has  facili- 
ties for  furnishing  legal  advice  in  any  particular  whatsoever. 

The  act  appears  to  be  drawn  with  the  specific  purpose  of  pre- 
venting trust  companies  and  other  similar  corporations  from  so- 
liciting business  in  the  natvire  of  writing  wills  or  advising  as  to 
the  manner  of  doing  the  same  or  having  the  same  done.  It  also 
strikes  at  advertisements  soliciting  trust  estates  or  guardianships 
or  other  similar  fiduciary  positions,  wherever  a  reference  is  made 
to  legal  services  to  be  rendered. 

A  violation  of  the  act  is  punishable  by  a  fine  of  $500  against 
the  corporation  and  similar  amount  against  the  officer  or  agent 
who  participates  in  the  illegal  act. 

The  act  specifically  provides  that  it  shall  not  apply  to  the 
business  of  examining  and  insviring  titles  to  real  property  or  to 
the  collection  or  adjustment  of  claims  by  collection  agencies  or 
to  the  defense  of  an  insured  by  an  insurance  company  under  a 
policy  of  insurance  issued  by  it. 

A  DECISION  IN  THE  APPELLATE  DIVISION  OF  THE  SU- 
PREME COURT  OF  NEW  YORK  IN  A  MATTER  IN- 
VOLVING THE  QUESTION  OF  SPLITTING 
FEES  BETWEEN  ATTORNEYS 
AND  LAYMEN. 

Julius  A.  Newman  is  a  practicing  attorney  in  New  York  City. 
It  was  charged  by  the  New  York  County  Lawyers'  Association 
that  he,  in  violation  of  section  274  of  the  Penal  Law  of  the  State 


AND    HIS    WORK  383 

of  New  York,  entered  into  an  unlawful  agreement  with  David 
L.  Ostro,  who  is  not  an  attorney,  whereby  said  Ostro  agreed  that 
he  would  endeavor  to  procure  said  Julius  A.  Newman  to  be  em- 
ployed as  an  attorney  to  bring  actions  of  law  for  the  recovery  of 
moneys  for  such  clients  as  said  David  L.  Ostro  might  thereafter 
be  able  to  induce  from  time  to  time  so  to  employ  the  said  Julius 
A.  Newman,  and  the  said  Julius  A.  Newman  in  consideration 
thereof  agreed  that  he  would  pay  over  to  the  said  David  L.  Ostro 
one-half  of  any  fees  which  he  might  receive  for  any  such  services. 
Certain  specific  instances  of  such  employment  by  Ostro  of 
Newman  were  set  forth. 

The  answer  denied  that  the  respondent  entered  into  the  un- 
lawful agreement,  but  that  David  L.  Ostro  who  conducted  a  col- 
lection agency  under  the  name  and  title  of  Ostro-Simon  Co.  pro- 
posed to  the  respondent  that  respondent  take  care  of  the  claims 
of  said  company  that  required  the  institution  of  legal  proceedings. 
That  at  all  times  the  said  company  was  the  client  with  whom 
the  respondent  directly  negotiated. 

In  the  collection  of  claims  the  usual  method  of  the  Ostro- 
Simon  Co.  was  to  send  a  letter  to  the  respondent  reading: 

"Enclosed  herewith  you  will  find  complaint  verified  in 
the  matter  of  Hyatt  v.  Geiger,  together  with  a  letter  received 
from  Geiger  at  his  new  address.  This  claim  is  given  to  you 
on  a  10  per  cent  basis,  and  if  collected  we  are  to  receive  one- 
half  of  10  per  cent  from  you.  This  is  for  bringing  suit,  and 
as  far  as  taking  judgment.  After  that,  if  necessary,  different 
arrangements  will  be  made  with  our  client  for  examination  of 
debtor  in  Supplementary  Proceedings. 

"You  will  also  find  enclosed  a  check  for  $3.00  for  issuing, 
serving  and  filing  of  summons.     Kindly   send  summons  over 
to  be  served  by  the  Ostro  Detective  Bureau." 
The  usual  cost  in  the  event  of  litigation  was  for  the  company 
to   charge  its  patrons  20  per  cent,  of  which   they  authoried  the 
respondent  to  retain   10  per  cent  for  his  legal  ser\'ices.    The   re- 
spondent alleged  that  this  practice  was  not  in  contravention  of 
section  274  referred  to.     The  respondent  further  alleged  that  he 
never  directly  bought  any  claim  from  the  Ostro-Simon  Company 
or  gave  or  promised  to  give  them  anything  as  an  inducement  to 
their  securing  demands  for   the   purpose  of  bringing   action   and 
that  he  never  induced  the  said  company  to  send  him  claims  of 
any  kind.       Further,  that  he  was  merely  carrying  out  the  usual 
practice  obtaining  in  the  commercial  law  business. 

Section  274  of  the  Penal  Code  referred  to  relates   to  buying 
demands  on  which  to  bring  an  action.    It  reads: 
An  attorney  or  counselor  shall  not: 

1.  Directly  or  indirectly,  buy,  or  be  in  any  manner  inter- 
ested in  buying,  a  bond,  promissor}^  note,  bill  of  exchange, 
book  debt,  or  any  other  thing  in  action,  with  the  intent  and 
purpose  of  bringing  an  action  thereon. 

2.  By  himself,  or  by  or  in  the  name  of  another  person, 
either  before  or  after  action  brought,  promise  or  give,  or  pro- 
cure to  be  promised  or  given,  a  valuable  consideration  to  any 
person,  as  an  inducement  to  placing,  or  in  consideration  of 
having  placed,  in  his  hands,  or  in  the  hands  of  another  per- 


384  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

son,  a  demand  of  any  kind,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  an 
action  thereon,  or  of  representing  the  claimant  in  the  pursuit 
of  any  civil  remedy  for  the  recovery  thereof.  But  this  sub- 
division does  not  apply  to  an  agreement  between  attorneys 
and  counselors,  or  either,  to  divide  between  themselves  the 
compensation  to  be  received. 

3.  An  attorney  or  counselor  convicted  of  a  violation 
of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  section,  in  addition  to  the 
punishment  by  fine  and  imprisonment  prescribed  therefor  by 
this  section,  forfeits  his  otifice. 

4.  An   attorney   or  counselor  who   violates   either  of   the 
first  two  subdiivsions  of  this  section,  is  guilty  of  a  misdemean- 
or;  and  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished  accordingly, 
and  must  be  removed  from  office  by  the  Supreme  Court." 
The  respondent  claimed  that  the  arrangement  was  suggested 

by  Mr.  Ostro  and  that  he  merely  received  as  his  fee  for  the  prose- 
cution of  the  suits  one-half  of  the  fee  regularly  charged  by  the 
company  to  its  patrons;  that  he  never  had  any  personal  relations 
with  the  customers  of  the  agency  and  that  the  only  clients  were 
the  agency.  The  court  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  court 
proceedings  which  he  instituted  he  appeared  as  attorney  of  record 
of  the  individuals  who  owned  the  claims.  So  far  as  the  court  pro- 
ceedings are  concerned,  he  was  the  attorney  for  the  plaintiffs  in 
the  actions  and  they  were  his  clients.     Says  the  Court: 

"If  he  had  failed  to  account  for  and  turn  over  the  moneys 
so  collected  by  him  as  the  result  of  litigation  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  he  would  have  been  personally  responsible  to 
them,  a  responsibility  which  they  could  have  enforced  by 
summary  proceedings  and  for  such  misconduct  on  his  part  in 
his  relation  of  attorney  to  them  he  would  have  been  amen- 
able to  discipHnary  proceedings  by  this  Court.  The  fact  that 
his  appearing  as  attorney  of  record  in  litigated  proceedings 
established  by  record  evidence  of  the  highest  character  the 
relation  of  attorney  and  client.  From  the  amounts  so  col- 
lected by  him  he  retained  20  per  cent  as  remuneration  for 
services  rendered  in  collecting  the  claim  as  the  result  of  liti- 
gation and  of  this  he  agreed  to  pay  10  per  cent  to  the  collec- 
tion agency  What  was  this?  Was  it  a  payment  by  him  of 
a  proportion  of  his  fee  taken  from  his  client's  money,  collected 
by  him,  to  the  person  or  agency  securing  the  client  for  him, 
or  was  the  10  per  cent  which  he  retained  compensation  paid 
to  him  by  the  collecting  agency,  who,  he  claims,  was  his  real 
client  for  services  rendered  to  it?  Whatever  way  we  look  at 
it,  it  is  clear  that  there  was  a  splitting  of  the  fees  between  an 
attorney  and  the  person  or  party,  not  an  attorney,  and  not 
competent  to  practice  law,  for  legal  services  rendered  to  a 
third  person  whose  attorney  of  record  he  was  and  with  whom 
the  relation  of  attorney  and  client  legally  existed. 

"The  collection  agency  clearly  held  itself  out  as  engaged 
in  collecting  claims  by  suit  if  necessary.  Its  circular  said: 
'A  10  per  cent  fee  on  all  claims,  before  suit  *  *  *  a  20 
per  cent  fee  and  minimum  disbursements  on  all  claims,  where 
suit  must  be  brought.' 
Also : 
'Terms  for  suit: 


AND    HIS   WORK  385 

On  any  sum  up  to  $1,000 10  per  cent 

On  any  sum  over  $1,000 5  per  cent 

Minimum   fee   $5.00 

"  'In  case  of  suit,  plaintiff  is  to  pay  all  court  costs  in  ad- 
vance, in  any  event,  but  no  fee  shall  be  due  the  attorney  ex- 
cept out  of  a  recovery,  unless  the  claim  is  contested,  and  there 
is  extra  labor  justifying  the  extra  charge.  Such  must  be 
named  and  agreed  upon.  If  defendant  is  to  be  examined  in 
Supplementary  Proceedings,  an  extra  fee  is  also  charged.  No 
suit  is  commenced  unless  authority  is  given.' 

"In  its  letter  to  respondent  it  enclosed  a  complaint  veri- 
fied not  by  it  as  plaintiff  but  by  its  customer.  'This  claim  is 
given  to  you  on  a  10  per  cent  basis  and  if  collected  we  are  to 
receive  one-half  of  10  per  cent  from  you.  This  is  for  bringing 
suit,  and  as  far  as  taking  judgment.  After  that,  if  necessary 
different  arrangements  will  be  made  with  our  client  for  ex- 
amination of  detor  in  supplementary  proceedings.  In  another 
letter  inclosing  two  verified  complaints  it  said:  'It  is  under- 
stood that  this  claim  is  taken  on  a  10  per  cent  basis  with  the 
usual  division  between  offices.'  The  respondent  therefore  did 
promise  and  give  a  valuable  consideration  to  the  agency  as  an 
inducement  to  placing  or  in  consideration  of  placing  in  his 
hands  a  demand  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  an  action  thereon 
as  prohibited  by  section  234  of  the  Penal  Law. 

"We  are  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  relation  was  one 
which  this  Court  cannot  sanction  or  approve.  An  attorney 
of  record  will  not  be  permitted  to  deny  that  the  relation  of 
attorney  and  client  exists  between  himself  and  the  person  for 
whom  he  appears  and  conducts  litigation.  Nor  can  this  Court 
sanction  the  splitting  of  fees  by  an  attorney  with  a  layman  or 
a  corporation,  or  a  voluntary  association  not  authorized  to 
practice  law  as  an  inducement  of  reward  for  procuring  of  busi- 
ness. (Matter  of  Clark,  108  App.  Div.,  150;  affd.,  184  N.  Y., 
222;  Matter  of  Shay,  133  App.  Div.,  547;  afifd.  on  opinion  of 
Ingraham,  J.,  196  N.  Y.,  547.) 

"As,  however,  the  respondent  at  the  time  of  the  act  com- 
plained of  was  a  young  man  about  twenty-six  years  of  age, 
only  two  years  at  the  bar,  with  little  or  no  experience,  and 
as  the  proposition  was  brought  to  him  by  the  agency,  we 
think  the  ends  of  justice  will  be  sufficiently  attained  by  this 
disapproval  of  the  character  of  the  relations  existing  between 
him  and  the  collecting  agency  and  his  censure  for  his  partici- 
pation therein  with  a  warning  to  those  who  may  hereafter 
participate  in  like  transactions." 

All  concur. 

LAW    IN    NEW     YORK     PROHIBITING     THE     PRACTICE 
OF  LAW  BY  CORPORATIONS  AND  VOLUN- 
TARY ASSOCIATIONS. 

LAWS  OF  NEW  YORK— BY  AUTHORITY. 

Chapter  254. 

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  penal  law,  in  relation  to  prohibiting  prac- 
tice of  law  by  corporations  and  voluntary  associations. 


386  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Became  a  law  April  18,  1916,  with  the  approval  of  the  Gover- 
nor.    Passed,  three-fifths  being  present. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate 
and  Assembly,  do  enact  as  follows: 

Section  1.  Section  280  of  chapter  eighty-eight  of  the  laws  of 
nineteen  hundred  and  nine,  entitled  "An  act  providing  for  the 
punishment  of  crime,  constituting  chapter  forty  of  the  consoli- 
dated laws,"  as  added  by  chapter  four  hundred  and  eighty-three 
of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  and  nine  and  amended  by  chapter 
three  hundred  and  seventeen  of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  and 
eleven,  is  hereby  amended  to  read  as  follows: 

Section  280.  Corporations  and  voluntary  associations  not  to 
practice  law.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  corporation  or  volun- 
tary association  to  practice  or  appear  as  an  attorney-at-law  for 
any  person  other  than  itself  in  any  court  in  this  state  or  before 
any  judicial  body,  or  to  make  it  a  business  to  practice  as  an  at- 
torney-at-law, for  any  person  other  than  itself,  in  any  of  said 
courts  or  to  hold  itself  out  to  the  public  as  being  entitled  to  prac- 
tice law,  or  render  or  furnish  legal  services  or  advice,  or  to  furnish 
attorneys  or  counsel  or  to  render  legal  services  of  any  kind  in  ac- 
tions or  proceedings  of  any  nature  or  in  any  other  way  or  manner, 
or  in  any  other  manner  to  assume  to  be  entitled  to  practice  law 
or  to  assume,  use  or  advertise  the  title  of  lawyer  or  attorney, 
attorney-at-law,  or  equivalent  terms  in  any  language  in  such  man- 
ner as  to  convey  the  impression  that  it  is  entitled  to  practice  law, 
or  to  furnish  legal  advice,  services  or  counsel,  or  to  advertise  that 
either  alone  or  together  with  or  by  or  through  any  person  whether 
a  duly  and  regularly  admitted  attorney-at-law,  or  not,  it  has,  owns, 
conducts  or  maintains  a  law  office  or  an  office  for  the  practice  of 
law,  or  for  furnishing  legal  advice,  services  or  counsel.  It  shall 
be  unlawful  further  for  any  corporation  or  voluntary  association 
to  solicit  itself  or  by  or  through  its  officers,  agents  or  employes 
any  claim  or  demand  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  an  action  there- 
on or  representing  as  attorney-at-law,  or  for  furnishing  legal  ad- 
vice, services  or  counsel  to  a  person  sued  or  about  to  be  sued  in 
any  action  or  proceeding  or  against  whom  an  action  or  proceeding 
has  been  or  is  about  to  be  brought,  or  who  may  be  affected  by 
any  action  or  proceeding  which  has  been  or  may  he,  instituted  in 
any  court  or  before  any  judicial  body,  or  for  the  purpose  of  so 
representing  any  person  in  the  pursuit  of  any  civil  remedy.  Any 
corporation  or  voluntary  association  violating  the  provisions  of 
this  section  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  more  than  five  thousand 
dollars  and  every  officer,  trustee,  director,  agent  or  employe  of 
such  corporation  or  voluntary  association  who  directly  or  indi- 
rectly engages  in  any  of  the  acts  herein  prohibited  or  assists  such 
corporation  or  voluntary  association  to  do  such  prohibited  acts 
is  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor.  The  fact  that  such  officer,  trustee, 
director,  agent  or  employe  shall  be  a  duly  and  regularly  admitted 
attorney-at-law,  shall  not  be  held  to  permit  or  allow  any  such 
corporation  or  voluntary  association  to  do  the  acts  prohibited 
herein  nor  shall  such  fact  be  a  defense  upon  the  trial  of  any  of 
the  persons  mentioned  therein  for  a  violation  of  the  provisions 
of  this  section.  This  section  shall  not  apply  to  any  corporation 
or  voluntary  association  lawfully  engaged  in  a  business  author- 
ized by  the  provisions  of  an  existing  statute,  nor  to  a  corporation 


AND    HIS   WORK  387 

or  voluntary  association  lawfully  engaged  in  the  examination  and 
insuring  of  titles  to  real  property,  nor  shall  it  prohibit  a  corpora- 
tion or  voluntary  association  from  employing  an  attorney  or  at- 
torneys in  and  about  its  own  immediate  afifairs  or  in  any  litiga- 
tion to  which  it  may  be  a  party,  nor  shall  it  apply  to  organiza- 
tions organized  for  benevolent  or  charitable  purposes,  or  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  persons  without  means  in  the  pursuit  of  any 
civil  remedy,  whose  existence,  organization  or  incorporation  may 
be  approved  by  the  appellate  division  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  department  in  which  the  principal  office  of  said  corporation 
or  voluntary  association  may  be  located. 

Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  a 
corporation  from  furnishing  to  any  person,  lawfully  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  law,  such  information  or  such  clerical  services  in  and 
about  his  professional  work  as,  except  for  the  provisions  of  this 
section,  may  be  lawful,  provided  that  at  all  times  the  lawyer  re- 
ceiving such  information  or  such  services  shall  maintain  full  pro- 
fessional and  direct  responsibility  to  his  clients  for  the  informa- 
tion and  services  so  received.  But  no  corporation  shall  be  per- 
mitted to  render  any  services  which  cannot  lawfully  be  rendered 
by  a  person  not  admitted  to  practice  law  in  this  state  nor  to  so- 
licit directly  or  indirectly  professional  employment  for  a  lawyer. 

Section  2.    This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 
State  of  New  York,  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  ss: 

I  have  compared  the  proceeding  with  the  original  law  on  file 
in  this  office,  and  do  hereby  certify  that  the  same  is  a  correct 
transcript  therefrom  and  of  the  whole  of  said  original  law. 

FRANCIS  M.  HUGO,  Secretary  of  State. 

LAW     IN     MASSACHUSETTS     PROHIBITING    THE     PRAC- 
TICE OF  LAW  BY  CORPORATIONS. 

[GENERAL  ACTS.] 
[Chapter  292.] 

An  Act  to  prohibit  the  practice  of  law  by  corporations. 

Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  as  follows: 

Section  1.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  corporation  to  prac- 
tice or  appear  as  an  attorney-at-law  for  any  person  other  than 
itself  in  any  court  in  this  commonwealth  or  before  any  judicial 
body  or  to  hold  itself  out  to  the  public  or  to  advertise  as  being 
entitled  to  practice  law ;  it  shall  further  be  unlawful  for  any  cor- 
poration to  draw  agreements,  or  other  legal  documents  not  re- 
lating to  its  lawful  business,  or  to  draw  wills,  or  to  practice  law, 
or  to  hold  itself  out  in  any  manner  as  being  entitled  to  do  any  of 
the  foregoing  acts,  whether  by  or  through  any  person  or  persons, 
and  whether  orally  or  by  advertisement,  letter  or  circular;  pro- 
vided, however,  that  the  foregoing  shall  not  prevent  any  national 
bank  or  any  bank  or  trust  company  incorporated  under  the  laws 
of  this  commonwealth  from  furnishing  to  persons  with  whom  it 
may  deal  or  who  may  apply  for  the  same,  through  its  officers  or 
agents,  legal  information  or  legal  advice  with  respect  to  invest- 
ments, taxation,  or  an  issue  or  offering  for  sale  of  stocks,  bonds, 
notes  or  other  securities  or  property. 


388  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

Section  2.  Any  corporation  violating  the  provisions  of  this 
act  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  not  more  than  one  thousand  dol- 
lars; and  every  officer,  agent  or  employe  of  any  such  corporation 
who,  on  behalf  of  the  same,  directly  or  indirectly,  engages  in  any 
of  the  acts  herein  prohibited,  or  assists  such  corporation  to  do 
such  prohibited  acts,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor, 
and  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  five  hundred 
dollars. 

Section  3.  This  act  shall  not  prohibit  a  corporation  from  em- 
ploying an  attorney  or  attorneys  in  and  about  its  own  affairs 
or  in  any  litigation  to  which  it  is  or  may  be  a  party. 

Section  4.  This  act  shall  not  apply  to  any  public  service  cor- 
poration nor  to  any  corporation  lawfully  engaged  in  the  business 
of  conducting  a  mercantile  or  collection  agency  or  adjustment  bu- 
reau, or  lawfully  engaged  in  the  examination  and  insuring  of  titles 
to  real  property,  or  lawfully  engaged  in  the  business  of  insurance 
against  liability  for  damages  or  compensation  on  account  of  injury 
to  persons  or  property,  or  lawfully  engaged  in  assisting  attorneys- 
at-law  to  organize  corporations,  or  organized  for  and  lawfully  en- 
gaged in  benevolent  or  charitable  purposes,  or  organized  under  the 
authority  of  the  commonwealth  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  per- 
sons without  means  in  the  pursuit  of  any  civil  remedy,  nor  shall 
it  prohibit  a  newspaper  from  answering  inquiries  through  its 
colunms  or  any  corporation  from  providing  legal  advice  or  assist- 
ance to  its  employes.     [Approved  June   1,   1916.] 

THE  LAW  OF  NEW  JERSEY  RELATIVE  TO  THE  CONDUCT 
OF   COLLECTION   AGENCIES,   BUREAUS   OR   OFFI- 
CES, BEING  CHAPTER  171,  SESSION  OF  1914. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  New  Jersey: 

1.  No  person,  partnership,  association  or  corporation  shall 
conduct  a  collection  agency,  collection  bureau  or  collection  office 
in  this  State,  or  engage  in  this  State  in  the  business  of  collecting 
or  receiving  payment  for  others  of  any  account,  bill  or  other  in- 
debtedness, or  engage  in  this  State  in  the  business  of  soliciting  the 
right  to  collect  or  receive  payment  for  another  of  any  account, 
bill  or  other  indebtedness,  or  advertise  for  or  solicit  in  print  the 
right  to  collect  or  receive  payment  for  another  of  any  account, 
bill  or  other  indebtedness,  unless  at  the  time  of  conducting  such 
collection  agency,  collection  bureau,  collection  office  or  collection 
business,  or  of  doing  such  advertising  or  soliciting,  such  person, 
partnership,  association  or  corporation,  or  the  person,  partnership, 
association  or  corporation  for  whom  he  or  it  may  be  acting  as 
agent  shall  have  on  file  with  the  Secretary  of  State  a  good  and 
sufficient  bond  as  hereinafter  specified. 

2.  Said  bond  shall  be  in  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars 
and  shall  provide  that  the  person,  partnership,  association  or  cor- 
poration giving  the  same  shall,  upon  written  demand,  pay  and 
turn  over  to  or  for  the  person,  partnership,  association  or  corpo- 
ration for  whom  any  account,  bill  or  other  indebtedness  is  taken 
for  collection  the  proceeds  of  such  collection  in  accordance  with 
the  terms  of  the  agreement  upon  which  such  account,  bill  or  other 
indebtedness  was  received  for  collection.    Said  bond   shall  be  in 


AND    HIS   WORK  380 

such  form  and  shall  contain  such  further  provisions  and  conditions 
as  the  Secretary  of  State  shall  deem  necessary  or  proper  for  the 
protection  of  the  persons,  partnerships,  associations  or  corpora- 
tions for  whom  said  accounts,  bills  or  other  indebtedness  are  taken 
for  collection. 

3.  Said  bond  shall  be  for  the  term  of  one  year  from  the  date 
thereof,  and  must  be  renewed  annually.  No  action  on  any  said 
bond  shall  be  begun  after  two  years  from  the  expiration  of  said 
bond. 

4.  Said  bond  shall  be  executed  by  said  persons,  partnerships, 
associations  or  corporations  as  principal  to  the  State  of  New  Jer- 
sey to  the  use  of  any  party  aggrieved  with  at  least  two  good  and 
sufficient  sureties  who  shall  be  residents  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  and  the  owners  in  their  own  name  of  real  estate  situate 
therein,  worth  at  least  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  over  and 
above  all  liens  and  encumbrances  thereon.  Said  bond  shall  not  be 
accepted  unless  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  upon 
such  approval,  it  shall  be  filed  in  his  office.  The  bond  of  a  surety 
company,  authorized  to  do  business  in  New  Jersey,  may  be  re- 
ceived if  approved  as  aforesaid;  or  cash  may  be  accepted  in  lieu 
of  sureties. 

5.  The  Secretary  of  State  shall  keep  a  record  of  such  bonds 
filed  with  him  under  the  provisions  hereof,  with  the  names,  places 
of  residence  and  places  of  business  of  the  principals  and  sureties, 
and  the  name  of  the  officer  before  whom  the  bond  was  executed 
or  acknowledged,  and  the  record  shall  be  open  to  public  inspec- 
tion. There  shall  be  paid  a  filing  fee  of  five  dollars  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  the  filing  of  each  bond. 

6.  No  bond  required  by  this  act  to  be  delivered  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  shall  be  approved  and  accepted  by  him  until  it  has 
been  examined  and  approved  by  the  Attorney-General. 

7.  Any  person,  member  of  a  partnership  or  officer  of  an 
association  or  corporation  who  fails  to  comply  with  any  of  the 
provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  subject  to  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
five  hundred  dollars  or  to  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  three 
months  or  to  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment. 

8.  This  act  shall  not  apply  to  an  attorney-at-law  duly  author- 
ized to  practice  in  this  State,  to  a  national  bank,  or  to  any  bank 
or  trust  company  duly  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  this  State. 

9.  This  act  shall  take  effect  thirty  days  after  its  passage. 
Approved  April  14,  1914. 

ILLINOIS  LAW  PROHIBITING  CORPORATIONS  FROM 
PRACTICING  LAW. 

(House  Bill  No.  951.    Filed  June  28,  1917). 
AN  ACT  to  prohibit  corporations  from  practicing  law,  directly  or 

indirectly,   making   the   same   a  inisdemeanor   and   providing 

penalties  for  the  violations  thereof. 
Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly:  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  a 
corporation  to  practice  law  or  appear  as  an  attorney  at  law  for 
any  reason  in  any  court  in  this  State  or  before  any  judicial  body, 
or  to  make  it  a  business  to  practice  as  an  attorney  at  law  for  any 
person  in  any  of  said  courts  or  to  hold  itself  out  to  the  public  as 


390  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

being  entitled  to  practice  law  or  to  render  or  furnish  legal  services 
or  advice  or  to  furnish  attorneys  or  counsel  or  to  render  legal 
services  of  any  kind  in  actions  or  proceedings  of  any  nature  or  in 
any  other  way  or  manner  to  assume  to  be  entitled  to  practice  law, 
or  to  assume,  use  and  advertise  the  title  of  lawyers  or  attorney, 
attorney  at  law,  or  equivalent  terms  in  any  language  in  such  man- 
ner as  to  convey  the  impression  that  it  is  entitled  to  practice  law, 
or  to  furnish  legal  advice,  furnish  attorneys  or  counsel,  or  to  ad- 
vertise that  either  alone  or  together,  with,  or  by  or  through,  any 
person,  whether  a  duly  and  regularly  admitted  attorney  at  law  or 
not,  it  has,  owns,  conducts  or  maintains  a  law  office  or  an  office 
for  the  practice  of  law  or  for  furnishing  legal  advice,  services  or 
counsel. 

2.  It  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  corporation  to  solicit  by  itself 
or  by  or  through  its  officer,  agent  or  employee,  any  claim  or  de- 
mand for  the  purpose  of  bringing  an  action  at  law  thereon,  or  for 
furnishing  legal  advice,  services  or  counsel,  to  a  person  sued  or 
about  to  be  sued  in  any  action  or  proceeding,  or  against  whom  an 
action  or  proceeding  has  been  or  is  about  to  be  brought  or  who 
may  be  affected  by  any  action  or  proceeding  which  has  been  or 
may  be  instituted  in  any  court  or  before  any  judicial  body  or  for 
the  purpose  of  so  representing  any  person  as  attorney  or  counsel  in 
securing  or  attempting  to  secure  any  civil  remedy. 

3.  Any  corporation  violating  the  provisions  of  this  Act  shall  be 
liable  to  a  fine  of  not  more  than  five  hundred  dollars  ($500),  any 
(and)  every  officer,  trustee,  director,  agent  or  employee  of  such 
corporation  who  directly  or  indirectly  engages  in  any  of  the  acts 
herein  prohibited  or  assists  such  corporation  to  do  any  such  pro- 
hibited act  or  acts  is  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  and  upon  conviction 
shall  pay  a  fine  of  not  less  than  two  hundred  dollars  ($200)  or 
more  than  five  hundred  dollars  ($500). 

4.  The  fact  that  any  such  officer,  trustee,  agent  or  employee 
shall  be  a  duly  and  regularly  admitted  attorney  at  law  shall  not 
be  held  to  permit  or  allow  any  such  corporation  to  do  the  acts 
prohibited  herein,  nor  shall  such  fact  constitute  a  defense  upon 
the  trial  of  any  of  the  persons  mentioned  herein  for  a  violation  of 
the  provisions  of  this  Act. 

5.  Nothing  contained  in  this  Act  shall  prohibit  a  corporation 
from  employing  an  attorney  or  attorneys  in  and  about  its  own 
immediate  affairs  or  in  any  litigation  to  which  it  is  or  may  be  a 
party,  or  in  any  litigation  in  which  any  corporation  may  be  in- 
terested by  reason  of  the  issuance  of  any  policy  or  undertaking 
of  insurance,  guarantee  or  indemnity,  nor  shall  it  apply  to  asso- 
ciations organized  for  benevolent  or  charitable  purpose  or  for 
assisting  persons  without  means  in  the  pursuit  of  any  civil  remedy 
or  the  presentation  of  a  defense  in  courts  of  law,  nor  shall  it  apply 
to  duly  organized  corporations  lawfully  engaged  in  the  mercantile 
or  collection  business  or  to  corporations  organized  not  for 
pecuniary  profit. 

Nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  a  cor- 
poration from  furnishing  to  any  person,  lawfully  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  the  law,  such  information  or  such  clerical  services  in 
and  about  his  professional  work  as,  except  for  the  provisions  of 
this  Act,  may  be  lawful,  provided  that  at  all  times  the  lawyer 
receiving  such  information  or  such  services  shall  mantain  full  pro- 


AND    HIS    WORK  391 

fessional  and  direct  responsibility  to  his  clients  for  the  information 
and  services  so  received.  But  no  corporation  shall  be  permitted 
to  render  such  services  which  cannot  lawfully  be  rendered  by  a 
person  not  admitted  to  practice  law  in  this  State  nor  to  soUcit 
directly  or  indirectly  professional  employment  for  a  lawyer. 
Filed  June  28,  1917. 

This  bill,  having  remained  with  the  Governor  ten  days,  Sun- 
days excepted,  the  General  Assembly  be  in  session,  it  has  thereby 
become  a  law. 

Witness  my  hand  this  twenty-eighth  day  of  June,  A.   D.   1917. 

LOUIS  L.  EMMERSON. 
Secretary  of  State. 


UNFAIR  FORWARDING  AND  RECEIVING. 

A  reform  that  is  greatly  needed  and  is  sure  to  come 
is  in  the  direction  of  giving  to  the  attorney  who  is  asked 
to  do  the  work  all  the  information  in  the  clients'  (or 
forwarder's)  possession  with  reference  to  the  claim  it- 
self and  the  steps  already  taken  to  realize  on  it. 

This  reform  would  work  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  all  parties.  It  would  assist  the  attorney  in  arriving 
at  a  speedy  conclusion  concerning  it,  and  permit  of  the 
prompt  placing  of  it  with  another  attorney  if  it  is  not 
wanted  by  the  first. 

The  notion  that  Attorney  B  would  return  a  claim  at 
once  if  he  knew  attorney  A  had  had  it  is  a  mistaken 
one.  Every  lawyer  knows  that  a  claim  is  not  neces- 
sarily worthless  because  forsooth  some  one  has  said  so. 

Often  one  attorney  has  inside  information  on  a  deb- 
tor's affairs.  Often  one  attorney  has  special  influence 
over  a  debtor  that  no  one  else  possesses.  Often  attorney 
B  knows  that  attorney  A  is  careless,  negligent  or  lazy 
and  that  his  returning  business  is  only  prima  facie 
evidence  of  its  being  worthless.  Often  attorney  B  wel- 
comes an  opportunity  to  show  that  he  can  do  what  at- 
torney A  can  not  do. 

But  suppose  attorney  B  does  take  attorney  A's  re- 
port on  the  matter  as  final  and  return  it  to  the  sender. 
The  sender  has  at  least  got  the  claim  back  and  can  try 


392  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

again  elsewhere  without  loss  of  the  time  and  the  effort 
and  postage  spent  on  getting  reports. 

There  is  a  good  reason  for  keeping  after  delinquent 
claims  by  using  one  attorney  after  another.  Innumerable 
times  it  has  happened  that  a  second  or  a  third  or  even 
a  fourth  attorney  has  made  good  where  his  predeces- 
sors failed.  There  is  no  reason  for  an  attorney  finding 
fault  that  he  is  asked  to  do  what  some  one  else  has 
tried  to  do  without  success.  He  can  know  that  at  the 
same  time  some  one  else  is  being  asked  to  do  what  he 
failed  to  do. 

All  attorneys,  all  offices,  are  not  good  commercial  of- 
fices. Some  ignore  commercial  business,  some  take  it 
and  neglect  it,  some  attend  to  it  half-heartedly,  others 
attend  to  it  properly.  The  client  and  the  forwarder  know 
this  and  hence  the  much  traveled  claim:  The  receiving 
attorney  should  know  this  and  understand  the  why  of  it 
and  not  grow  red  in  the  face  on  discovering  that  some 
other  lawyer  has  worked  or  slept  on  a  piece  of  business 
he  has  received. 

The  receiving  attorney  has  a  right  to  know  the  his- 
tory of  the  claim.  What  would  you  say  if  your  client 
came  to  see  you  with  his  divorce  case  and  said,  "I  want 
a  divorce  from  my  wife.  Get  it  for  me,"  and  refused 
to  give  you  further  information.  Suppose  I  came  to 
you  and  said  "B  owes  me  $100.  Collect  it."  I  ask  you, 
"does  he  claim  an  offset,  a  defense  of  any  sort?  Is  he  in 
business?  What  have  you  done  to  collect  it?  What 
does  he  say?"  You  answer,  *Tt  is  none  of  your  business 
what  I  know.  Find  these  things  out  yourself."  Then  I 
go  to  the  debtor  and  I  am  told  of  a  defense,  of  a  counter- 
claim, a  part  payment  not  credited.  I  must  return  to 
you  and  ask  what  of  all  this.  You  answer  that  you 
knew  all  this  before  and  why  come  to  you  with  it,  and 
you  complain.  Result,  delay,  during  which  the  debtor 
escapes  maybe. 

The  injustice  of  the  present  almost  universal  practice 


AND    HIS   WORK  393 

is  self-evident.  Men  are  sent  on  fool's  errands  to  learn 
what  their  clients  or  some  one  or  more  other  lawyers 
have  learned  and  reported.  Work  and  time  and  expense 
are  duplicated,  triplicated,  ofttimes  quadrupled  by  this 
failure  to  report  to  the  receiving  attorney  what  is  al- 
ready known  as  to  the  matter.  No  wonder  the  stale 
claim  is  neglected,  abused  and  ofttimes  consigned  to  ob- 
livion and  reports  on  it  refused. 

This  case  happened  in  my  own  experience :  Several 
hours  was  consumed  by  me  and  some  expense  incurred 
in  visiting  a  farmer  who  ignored  my  letters  and  all  I 
got  was  facts  that  I  knew  would  defeat  a  suit  and  that 
another  attorney  had  preceded  me  in  the  effort  and  had 
reported  the  situation  to  the  client.  I  was  mad  clear 
through,  not  that  I  was  employed  to  follow  another  man 
in  the  doing  of  the  work,  but  that  I  had  been  cheated 
out  of  my  time  by  a  trick.  My  report  in  that  claim 
scorched  the  paper  it  was  written  on. 

Some  day  a  client  or  Forwarder  is  going  to  rise  to 
the  true  conception  of  this  thing  and  in  his  forwarding 
blank  he  is  going  to  say :  "This  matter  has  been  in  the 
hands  of  John  Smith  and  Edward  Jones  of  your  city. 
Smith  reported  the  party  worthless  but  did  not  see 
him.  Jones  reported  the  party  working  on  shares  for 
farmer  Colson  near  town  and  can  be  made  to  pay  if 
watched.     Did  not  care  to  handle  it." 

Result  of  the  above  style  of  forwarding  letter :  The 
attorney  receiving  it,  if  he  wants  business,  notes  that  he 
can  get  information  on  the  debtor  from  two  persons  in 
town  if  he  desires  it.  He  does  not  have  to  send  out 
a  detective  to  locate  the  debtor;  he  knows  where  he  can 
be  found.  Perhaps  he  is  farmer  Colson's  friend  or  at- 
torney. Through  him  he  will  get  a  line  on  the  debtor 
and  perhaps  get  a  hint  as  to  how  he  can  get  his  money. 
At  any  rate  he  is  well  along  with  the  getting  of  that 
money  before  he  has  moved  out  of  his  office  chair. 
Many  chances  to  one,  had  no   information  of  the  sort 


394  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

reached  him,  he  would  have  made  a  desultory  effort, 
dropped  the  debtor  a  dunning  letter  addressed  to  "gen- 
eral delivery"  or  to  some  once-upon-a-time  address,  and 
in  the  course  of  many  moons  responded  to  a  savage  re- 
quest for  report  by  returning  the  claim  with  "N.  G." 
written  across  its  face;  and  the  client  would  have  de- 
served the  results. 

And  all  the  time,  gentle  reader,  remember  the  lawyer 
is  doing  this  work  on  the  contingent  basis.  It  is  just  as 
if  I  should  say  to  you,  "Here,  do  this,  but  if  you  don't 
get  results  you  don't  get  paid"  and  then  deliberately  set 
about  making  it  as  hard  as  possible  for  you  to  succeed. 

When  the  fin  de  siecle  agency  or  Forwarder  does 
come  with  his  complete  instructions  and  history  of  his 
forwarding  items,  he  is  going  to  meet  with  the  plau- 
dits of  the  entire  receiving  world.  Every  receiving 
lawyer  will  rise  to  call  him  blessed  and  great  will  be 
his  reward. 

I  am  glad  to  record  that  the  Commercial  Law  League 
of  America  has  declared  that  any  Forwarder  failing  to 
give  full  particulars  as  to  the  history  of  prior  efforts  to 
collect  on  sending  out  a  claim  is  an  unfair  Fordwarder. 

Up  to  date,  this  declaration  is  only  educational  in 
its  force  and  influence.  If  the  League  ever  attempts  to 
try  Forwarders  for  this  offense  it  will  have  before  its 
bar  every  Forwarder  and  client  from  Dan  to  Beersheba. 
The  League  has  set  the  seal  of  its  condemnation  on  the 
practice  and  that  is  something.  I  have  faith  in  the 
future.     Its  womb  is  big  with  promise. 

Is  it  allowable  for  a  Forwarder  to  take  business  at 
one  rate  of  fees  and  forward  it  at  a  lower  rate?  In  other 
words,  is  the  relation  of  Forwarder  and  Receiver  that 
of  contractor  and  subcontractor? 

My  answer  to  this  is  a  decided  No,  unless  all  the 
parties  including  the  client  are  aware  of  the  facts  and 
agree  to  the  arrangement. 


AND    HIS    WORK 


395 


Those  who  take  a  different  view  say  that  the  For- 
warder's arrangement  with  the  Receiver,  is  none  of  the 
client's  business;  that  having  contracted  with  the  For- 
warder to  execute  the  commission  at  a  price  agreed, 
the  client  has  no  interest  in  the  terms  the  Forwarder 
may  be  able  to  make  with  the  Receiver  and  has  no 
reason  for  inquiring  and  no  right  to  do  so. 

Further,  they  say,  if  the  Receiver  is  satisfied  with 
the  terms  offered  him  what  business  is  it  of  his  to  in- 
quire what  terms  the  Forwarder  has  made  with  the 
client.  If  the  Receiver  is  satisfied,  that  is  enough.  It 
is  a  clear  case  of  contract  in  each  case  to  which  all  are 
agreed. 

First,  with  reference  to  the  deal  between  the  For- 
warder and  the  Receiver.  Let  us  assume,  what  is  prac- 
tically always  the  case,  that  the  Receiver  knows  nothing 
of  the  deal  between  the  Client  and  the  Forwarder.  Let 
us  further  assume,  what  is  practically  always  the  case, 
that  the  Forwarder  sends  out  the  business  with  the  de- 
mand for  one-third  of  the  fee  from  the  Receiver. 

The  Receiver,  ignorant  of  his  principal's  deal,  has  a 
plain  and  undisputable  right  to  assume  that  the  fee  he 
is  to  divide  with  the  Forwarder  is  the  entire  fee  and  not 
a  part  of  it  merely,  otherwise,  why  divide?     The  For- 
warder says  in  effect  to  the  Receiver  I  send  you  this 
business.     The  fee  is  so  much.     I  must  have  one-third 
of  it  for  my  work  in  obtaining  it,  docketing  it,  sending 
it  to  you,  and  reporting  to  clients.    If  the  Receiver  knew 
the  client  had  a  right  to  a  larger  fee  he  could  well  return 
the  answer  you  are  already  paid.     You  want  not  only 
the  part  of  the  fee  without  division  but  you  want  one- 
third  of  mine,  which  custom  has  allowed  to  be  rebated 
to  compensate  the  Forwarder  for  his  share  of  the  work. 
Suppose  A  says  to  B,  "  I  get  25%     commission  on 
this  matter  from  the  client  because  it  is  a  case  of  con- 
siderable difficulty.     I  will  allow  you   107o  and  expect 
you  to  pay  me  one-third  of  that.     Would  any  Receiver 


396  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

under  the  sun  agree  to  such  conditions?  The  question 
answers  itself.  The  unfairness  is  self-evident.  The  mere 
statement  of  a  concrete  case  shows  the  absurdity  of  the 
position. 

The  almost  universal  rule  of  division  of  collection 
commissions  is,  and  from  time  immemorial  has  been, 
two-thirds  to  Receiver,  one-third  to  Forwarder,  and  no 
honest  man  will  claim  that  this  means  two-thirds  of  a 
part  of  the  fee  to  the  Receiver. 

The  Receiver  has  a  right  to  assume  that  he  is  getting 
his  share  of  the  fee  that  the  Client  pays.  If  he,  in  any 
case,  thought  he  was  not  getting  this,  there  would  be  a 
protest  loud  and  long. 

I  may  be  asked  why  I  bring  up  such  a  question.  It 
surely  can  not  be  that  such  a  practice  exists.  I  answer 
the  practice  does  exist  and  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
time  is  fast  approaching  when  steps  must  be  taken  by 
receiving  attorneys  to  stop  it.  Millions  of  dollars  in 
doubtful  claims  are  flooding  Receivers'  offices,  sent  on 
the  ten  and  fifteen  per  cent  basis,  though  sometimes  on 
the  munificent  twenty-five  per  cent  basis  on  which 
Clients  have  agreed  to  allow  fifty  per  cent,  the  forwarder 
trying  out  his  "subcontractor"  on  the  ten  per  cent,  or 
fifteen  per  cent  first,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  pocket 
the  difference — a  paltry  forty  or  thirty-five  per  cent. 

And  this  practice  is  not  indulged  in  alone  by  scab 
Forwarders.  It  is  indulged  in  by  some  of  the  best  and 
widest  known.  I  have  heard  the  practice  upheld 
by  men  who,  if  I  should  name  them,  would  be  recog- 
nized as  leaders  in  the  Commercial  Law  field.  And  one 
gave  as  his  best  reason  that  there  was  so  little  money 
in  forwarding  at  one-third  of  the  fees,  it  was  necessary 
to  make  the  extra  out  of  the  client's  liberal  offer  in  order 
to  play  even.  But  this  sort  of  an  argument  would  jus- 
tify a  manager  hiring  men  for  his  principal,  paying  cer- 
tain wages,  charging  up  more  and  pocketing  the  differ- 
ence, his  plea  being  that  he  could  not  live  on  the  salary 
allowed  him. 


AND    HIS    WORK  397 

I  hav-e  tried  to  bring  this  matter  to  the  attention  of 
bodies  of  lawyers  and  committees  and  found  that  I  was 
broachmg  an  unpopular  topic.  But  I  expect  to  live  to 
see  the  day  when  it  will  be  a  live  issue  and  freely  dis- 
cussed. ■' 

The  receiving  attorney  is  in  this  matter  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Forwarder,  because  the  ethics  of  his  profession 
will  not  permit  him  to  go  behind  the  scenes  and  inquire 
what  fee  the  Forwarder  really  is  getting. 

And  yet,  entitled  as  he  is  to  his  proportion  of  the 
whole  fee,  may  a  way  not  be  found  of  giving  him  to 
know  the  terms  of  a  contract  to  which  he  really  is  a 
party?  ^ 

But  there  is  another  phase  of  this  question  which 
shows  more  plainly  still  the  iniquity  of  the  practice,  and 
here  we  find  the  CLIENT  wronged. 

The  ordinary  terms  on  collections  we  will  say  are 
the  t:me  honored  ten  percent,  now  happily  superceded 
by  fifteen.  The  client  knows  this.  He  is  familiar  with 
he  ruling  schedule.  But  knowing  his  claim  is  doubt- 
ful or  desperate,  or  needing  the  money  badly,  he  offers 
the  Forwarder  twenty-five  or  fifty  per  cent.  Now  mark 
you  he  does  this  for  a  clearly  defined  purpose  and  that 
purpose  IS  to  get  extra  service  or  service  he  would  not 
or  could  not  get  at  ten  percent. 

Sometimes  the  Forwarder  approaches  him  thus  •  You 
have  given  me  tough  claims,  worked  over,  stale  col- 
lections, I  can  not  afford  to  put  time  on  these  at  the 
regular  rates.  Attorneys  will  not  handle  them.  I  must 
have  more.  The  Client  recognizing  the  situation,  al- 
lows the  Forwarder  to  write  into  the  contract  a  liberal 
percentage. 

Suppose,   as  often   happens,   the   Forwarder  dockets 
these  claims,   shoves   them  into   the   hopper  and   mails 
them   to  his  correspondents  on  his  regular  forwarding 
blanks  at  the  good  old  ten-per-cent-one-third-back  rate 
wherein  does  the  client  get  a  consideration  for  his  liberal 


398  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

commission  agreement?  What  extra  service  does  he 
get  from  the  receiving  attorney? 

After  these  claims  have  traveled  av^hile  the  For- 
warder may  open  up  and  send  them  out  at  a  tv^enty-or- 
twenty-five-per-cent-one-third-back  rate,  all  the  time 
hoping  and  expecting  that  here  and  there  he  may  bag 
a  big  fee  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  innocent  attorney 
w^ho  by  hook  or  crook  has  brought  down  one  of  these 
impossibles. 

In  such  cases  as  these  there  have  been  two  wrongs 
perpetrated  by  the  Forwarder — one  on  his  client  by  not 
buying  for  him  the  extra  service  he  has  agreed  to  buy, 
and  one  on  the  attorney  by  withholding  from  him  his 
just  proportion  of  the  fee  the  client  was  prepared  to  give 
for  the  settlement  of  the  claim. 

There  is  no  excuse  for  the  practice  excepting  the 
excuse  of  the  man  who  steals — he  needs  the  money. 

As  a  suggestion  to  receiving  attorneys  I  would  say 
that  on  all  matters  that  appear  on  their  face  to  be  stale 
and  doubtful,  insist  upon  adequate  pay.  It  will  be  found 
that  Forwarders  when  faced  with  the  demand  will  gen- 
erally grant  it  because  in  such  matters  they  have  usually 
protected  themselves  by  liberal  fee  allowances  on  the 
part  of  their  clients  and,  if  not,  they  are  reasonably  sure 
of  being  able  to  obtain  such  allowances  on  request. 
There  are  few  responsible,  worth-while  Forwarders  that 
handle  stale  matters  on  regular  rates.  Almost  invari- 
ably they  protect  themselves.  And  so  should  the  Re- 
ceivers. 

UNFAIR  FORWARDING  AND    RECEIVING. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  Americia  Has  Declared  the  Fol- 
lowing to  Be  Acts  of  Unfair  Forwarding: 

1.  Withdrawing  or  requesting  the  return  of  an  item  from  the 
hands  of  a  receiving  attorney  after  acknowledgment  and  work 
done  on  it  by  the  receiving  attorney,  without  just  cause  or  with- 
out paying  fees.  This  includes  the  withdrawal  of  a  claim  for  the 
purpose  of  filing  it  direct  in  a  bankruptcy  proceeding. 

2.  Failure  to  pay  commissions  at  regular  rates  where  an  ac- 
count is  paid  direct  after  it  has  reached  the  receiving  attorney's 
hands,  been  acknowledged  and  work  started  on  it,  or  reducing 
the  rate  on  said  direct  payments. 


AND    HIS    WORK  399 

3.  Forwarding  an  item  without  giving  the  receiving  attor- 
ney such  information  as  the  forwarder  has  at  the  time  of  for- 
warding, regarding  the  character  of  the  claim,  the  defenses,  if 
any,  and  such  papers  as  have  been  furnished  by  the  chent,  or 
the  substance  thereof,  together  with  such  steps  as  the  forwarder 
may  have  heretofore  taken  in  respect  to  the  collection  of  the 
claim,  which  information  is  necessary  for  a  proper  presentment 
or  handling  of  the  claim  on  the  part  of  the  receiver. 

4.  Sending  an  item  in  a  sealed  envelope  to  an  attorney  with 
instructions  not  to  open  it  until  advised  so  to  do,  but  to  report 
to  the  forwarder  regarding  the  financial  responsibility  of  the 
debtor  whether  the  claim  could  be  made  by  suit,  and  if  so  when 
suit  should  be  filed  and  when  judgment  could  be  obtained,  with 
request  to  hold  the  envelope  until  wired  to  present  claim  for  col- 
lection, together  with  any  modification  of  this  procedure;  in 
none  of  which  is  the  attorney  compensated. 

5.  Intentionally  addressing  envelopes  to  debtors  containing 
letters  purporting  to  be  written  to  attorneys,  either  authorizing 
or  instructing  drastic  action,  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  debtor 
into  thinking  that  the  attorney  had  been  so  instructed,  or  using 
without  authority,  or  without  compensation,  or  his  consent,  the 
name  and  influence  of  a  local  attorney. 

6.  Asking  free  commercial  reports  on  a  promise  of  business 
without  reasonable  cause  to  believe  that  the  promise  can  be 
kept,  by  agencies  whose  principal  business  is  the  securing  reports 
and  whose  forwarding  business  is  small  compared  with  the  num- 
ber of  reports  requested. 

7.  Getting  free  commercial  reports  over  a  law  list  from  its 
attorneys  under  an  agreement  to  use  these  attorneys  in  case  of 
business  arising  in  their  field,  and  when  such  business  arises, 
placing  it  with  an  agency  (either  the  publishers  of  such  list  or 
not)  which  first  exhausts  every  effort  to  realize  direct  and,  after- 
wards, and  as  a  last  resort,  uses  the  attorneys  who  have  rendered 
the  reporting  service.  In  other  words,  asking  attorneys  for  free 
reports,  and  withholding  business  from  them  until  it  is  desperate 
or  worthless.  This  is  aimed  particularly  at  agencies  that  publish 
law  lists,  ask  their  attorneys  to  do  free  reporting,  and  themselves 
do  a  direct  collecting  and  adjusting  business  over  the  heads  of 
their  attorneys,  who  in  many  cases  not  only  do  the  reporting 
without  compensation,  but  pay  money  for  the  privilege. 

8.  After  having  authorized  suit,  failing  to  furnish  receiving 
attorney  with  the  necessary  evidence  to  substantiate  client's  po- 
sition, and  an  advance  for  such  costs  as  may  be  required  by  the 
court  in  which  the  action  is  pending. 

9.  Forwarding  a  collection  item  with  a  demand  for  more 
than  one-third  of  the  fee  to  the  forwarder  unless  the  forwarder 
is  compelled  to  assist  the  receiving  attorney  in  the  briefing  of  a 
litigated  matter,  in  the  examination  of  authorities  and  the  prepa- 
ration of  either  a  brief  or  pleadings  in  the  case. 

10.  Obtaining  reports  on  a  debtor  from  one  receiving  attor- 
ney, and,  without  just  cause,  sending  the  account  to  another  a-s- 
torney  for  collection. 


400  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

n.  Requiring  of  receiving  attorneys  a  bonus  or  representa- 
tion fee  from  the  forwarder's  business,  whether  for  the  purpose 
of  assisting  the  forwarder  in  increasing  the  volume  of  business 
forwarded  or  for  any  other  purpose,  where  there  is  an  agreement 
for  a  division  of  fees  on  such  items  as  may  be  sent  by  the  for- 
warder to  the  receiving  attorney. 

12.  The  unauthorized  direct  or  indirect  use  of  the  personal 
name  of  an  attorney  in  any  communication  between  the  forwar- 
der and  the  debtor. 

13.  Failing  to  pay  disbursements  or  expenses  incurred  at 
forwarders'  request  or  court  costs  taxed  against  client  which 
have  been  guaranteed  by  forwarder. 

14.  In  bankruptcy  matters  filing  a  number  of  claims  direct 
and  sending  one  or  more  claims  to  receiving  attorney  for  the 
purpose  of  having  said  receiving  attorney  keep  said  forwarder 
fully  advised  as  to  the  progress  of  the  bankruptcy  proceedings. 

15.  Attaching  more  than  one  law  list  coupon  on  any  item 
of  business  forwarded  to  receiving  attorney  or  sending  bonding 
notices  to  more  than  one  law  list  on  any  one  item  forwarded  to 
receiving  attorney. 

16.  Using  a  form  of  notice  which  purports  to  be  a  summons 
or  other  writ  issued  by  a  court,  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  a 
debtor  into  believing  that  legal  action  has  been  actually  com- 
menced, or  that  the  communication  is  a  court  notice. 

17.  Seeking  to  obtain  free  commercial  reports  from  two  or 
more  attorneys  on  the  same  individual  or  firm,  either  direct 
or  through  agencies  and  law  lists,  with  the  express  or  implied 
promise  to  each  to  give  them  such  law  or  collection  business 
as  the  inquirer  may  have  in  his  town. 

18.  The  failure  on  the  part  of  the  forwarder  to  pay  a  fair 
and  reasonable  fee  for  services  rendered  by  the  receiver  at  the 
instance  of  the  forwarder.  This  definition  not  to  apply  to  an 
instance  at  the  time  of  the  forwarding  of  the  business,  the  for- 
warder distinctly  advises  the  receiver  that  the  business  is  to  be 
transacted  upon  the  credit  of  the  client  and  not  upon  the  credit 
of  the  forwarder. 

And  the  Following  as  Unfair  Receiving: 

1.  Failing  to  promptly  answer  inquiries  regarding  matters 
placed  for  attention. 

2.  Failing  to  promptly  notify  a  forwarder  if  the  schedule  of 
rates  on  which  business  is  sent  is  not  satisfactory. 

3.  Retaining  without  previous  agreement  a  larger  fee  than 
provided  for  in  the  forwarding  letter  because  the  item  is  collected 
in  stalments,  or  deducting  larger  or  different  compensation  than 
provided  in  the  forwarding  letter  where  unusual  services  are  neces- 
sary, without  first  fully  advising  the  forwarder  and  securing  an 
agreement  for  such  additional  compensation. 

4.  Advising  suit  in  a  matter  and  then  charging  a  suit  fee  in 
addition  to  the  full  compensation  as  provided  in  the  forwarding 
letter  without  first  having  made  arrangements  with  the  forwarder. 


AND    HIS    WORK  4«1 

5.  Taking  as  fees  moneys  obtained  as  costs  unless  by  agree- 
ment. 

6.  Charging  and  retaining  in  one  case  the  fees  or  costs 
claimed  in  another,  where  there  is  no  authority  so  to  do,  par- 
ticularly where  the  bill  for  such  fees  and  costs  is  in  dispute. 

7.  Failing  to  report  the  fact  that  claim  is  being  collected  in 
small  instalments  or  to  remit  within  a  reasonable  time  any  money 
collected. 

8.  Failing  to  return  all  papers  or  remit  all  moneys  on  items 
that  have  been  withdrawn  by  forwarders  because  of  receiver's  neg- 
lect. 

9.  Failing  to  answer  inquiries  or  correspondence  or,  for  any 
other  just  cause,  failing  to  disclose  his  (the  receiver's)  exact  rela- 
tions to  the  debtor  or  his  inability  to  carry  out  specific  instruc- 
tions by  reason  of  his  being  under  obligations  to  the  debtor's  at- 
torney or  to  another  forwarder  which  presents  him  from  adequate- 
ly representing  or  carrying  out  the  instructions  of  a  specific  for- 
warder. In  such  instances  the  receiver  should  place  the  forwarder 
in  full  possession  of  all  facts  or  return  claim  at  once. 

10.  Incurring  unauthorized  expense,  not  clearly  implied  or 
expressly  authorized  by  agreement  with  client  or  forwarder. 

11.  Writing  direct  to  a  creditor  without  first  securing  the 
consent  of  the  forwarder,  except  in  such  instances  as  where,  from 
the  neglect  or  fraud  of  the  forwarder,  it  is  necessary  in  order  to 
fully  protect  the  interests  of  the  client,  as  well  as  the  receiver,  that 
the  forwarder  be  ignored. 


402  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 


THE  COMMERCIAL  LAW  LEAGUE  OF  AMERICA 

It  must  be  difficult  for  any  one  who  was  not  in  the 
active  practice  of  commercial  law  twenty-five  year  ago 
to  understand  the  conditions  then  existing  and  to  realize 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  changes  in  this  field  that 
the  quarter  century  has  brought  about.  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  take  the  space  to  describe  these  conditions  and 
changes  but  only  to  hint  at  them.  There  was  in  those 
days  no  mutuality  of  acquaintance,  no  combination  of 
efifort  and  no  esprit  du  corps.  The  business  was  in  its 
infancy  and  it  was  every  fellow  for  himself,  and  the 
devil  take  the  hindmost. 

In  1889  I  was  acting  in  Detroit  as  attorney  for  a 
number  of  manufacturers  in  machinery  and  vehicle  lines 
who  used  extensively  conditional  sale  contracts  and  title 
clause  notes.  The  unsettled  state  of  the  law  relating  to 
these  forms  of  contracts  was  such  as  to  give  manufac- 
turers dealing  throughout  many  states  much  and  serious 
trouble. 

In  the  course  of  my  employment  it  occurred  to  me 
that  a  periodical  specializing  in  this  field  and  keeping 
abreast  with  the  ever-changing  statutes  and  decisions 
would  meet  with  hearty  approval,  and  so  the  monthly 
periodical  entitled  "The  Collector"  came  into  being.  It 
was  not  my  intention  that  this  paper  should  seek  the 
patronage  of  lawyers.  It  was  to  be  a  paper  for  the 
manufacturer  of  farm  implements,  machinery,  vehicles 
and  the  like,  and  as  evidence  of  this  I  refer  you  to  its 
first  numbers,  which  contain  neither  lawyers'  cards  nor 
lawyers'  names,  but,  ridiculous  as  it  may  seem,  did  con- 
tain advertisements  of  plows,  harrows,  feed  cutters,  corn 
planters  and  threshing  machines.  My  own  identity  as 
publisher  was  concealed  under  the  names  of  two  boys 
in  my  office,  and  so  far  was  my  law  business  divorced 
from  it,  the  first  edition  was  mailed  from  the  kitchen  of 
my  home.     I  must  confess  that  at  about  this  time  I  was 


AND    HIS    WORK  403 

yearning  to  trade  a  college  education  for  something  to 
eat. 

Lawyers  with  an  eye  to  the  nimble  penny  were  not 
slow  in  recognizing  in  this  queer  jumble  of  law  and  lawn 
mowers  an  opportunity,  with  the  result  that  ere  a  year 
had  elapsed  lawyers  had  crowded  the  implement  men 
into  a  corner  and  The  Collector  had  sprung  full  fledged 
into  the  legal  world  as  the  first  organ,  the  first  champion 
of  the  commercial  lawyer  and  his  co-workers,  the  com- 
mercial agency  and  the  collection  manager. 

Passing  over  the  years  of  pioneering  with  this  maga- 
zine, I  come  to  the  year  1895.  At  this  time  I  had  sev- 
eral well  settled  opinions  in  connection  with  the  commer- 
cial law  practice  and  among  them  was  this,  that  with  the 
immense  growth  of  commerce  in  this  country  and  the 
resultant  growth  in  importance  of  the  commercial  law- 
yer as  a  class,  some  organization,  some  co-operation, 
some  united  action  was  necessary  to  enable  him  to  ade- 
quately meet  his  opportunities  and  his  responsibilities 
and  put  the  business  on  a  plane  that  would  win  it  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  the  commercial  world. 

This  idea  I  kept  continually  at  the  front  in  the  col- 
umns of  the  "Collector,"  but  not  until  urged  by  several 
of  my  readers,  notably  the  late  George  S.  Hull,  a  com- 
mercial lawyer  of  Buffalo,  and  F.  C.  Stillson,  collection 
manager  of  Nichols  and  Shepard  Company,  threshing 
machine  manufacturers  of  Battle  Creek,  did  I  decide  that 
it  was  my  privilege  and  duty  to  take  the  lead  in  an  effort 
to  organize  the  Commercial  Law  and  Collection  world, 
and  from  the  moment  of  this  decision  I  threw  into  the 
project  all  my  energy  and  all  the  resources  of  my 
business. 

Not  to  weary  you  with  details  as  to  the  campaign 
that  followed  it  may  interest  you  to  know  that  members 
of  my  office  staff  traveled  thousands  of  miles  to  inter- 
view lawyers  and  awaken  interest,  holding  local  meet- 
ings in  large  cities  wherever  they  could  get  a  few  men 


404  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

to  listen.  Special  editions  of  the  Collector  were  sent 
broadcast,  scores  of  extra  workers  were  engaged  for 
weeks  in  mailing  explanatory  literature,  and  the  country 
was  flooded  with  thousands  of  little  slips  of  paper  on 
which  were  printed  "Meet  Me  at  Detroit  August  15-17, 
1895,  Commercial  Law  Convention."  These  were  sup- 
plied from  our  office  to  every  man  who  indicated  his 
willingness  to  help  by  sending  them  out  in  his  mail. 
Conferences  with  reference  to  program  were  held  where- 
ever  I  could  get  a  willing  ear,  notably  with  Mr.  E.  K. 
Sumerwell. 

The  legal  press  of  the  country  were  afraid  to  even 
mention  the  project,  but  not  so  the  Associated  Press, 
which  rendered  us  some  assistance  in  a  sensational  way. 

A  meeting  of  Detroit  lawyers  called  for  the  purpose 
of  planning  entertainment  for  the  visitors  met  with  so 
timid  a  response  that  all  idea  of  local  help  was  given  up. 
Almost  every  one  voiced  fear  of  the  outcome  and  either 
damned  with  faint  praise  or  retreated  valiantly  waving 
the  white  feather.  But  a  few  of  us  who  could  be  count- 
ed on  the  fingers  of  one  hand  burned  our  bridges  behind 
us  and  made  for  the  enemy's  country. 

The  first  man  to  appear  at  the  convention  was  George 
S.  Hull  of  Buffalo,  and  the  second  was  J.  S.  Leisenring 
of  Altoona,  two  men  who  became  like  Damon  and 
Pythias  fighting  together  for  the  League  every  inch  of 
the  way  during  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

The  convention  crowd  began  to  come  the  day  before 
the  opening.  It  was  a  wild-eyed  and  wondering  crowd. 
It  fell  to  my  lot  to  act  as  reception  committee.  Every 
man  who  appeared  in  the  lobby  of  the  hotel  with  the 
dust  of  the  prairies  in  his  whiskers  or  the  dew  of  the 
mountains  on  his  brow  was  piloted  at  once  to  the  hotel 
parlor.  There,  after  the  fashion  of  home  funerals,  he 
was  shaken  solemnly  by  the  hand  and  escorted  to  a  seat 
among  strangers  whom  he  dared  not  be  familiar  with. 
At  midnight  the  lobby  and  parlors  were  filled  with  a 


AND   HIS    WORK 


405 


mptley  crowd  composed  of  over  400  men  and  women, 
among  whom  no  group  of  three  or  four  could  be  found 
m  which  all  of  the  individuals  composing  the  group  had 
met  one  another  before.  Indeed  I  had  to  introduce  men 
to  each  other  who  had  officed  in  the  same  block  in  the 
same  city  for  years  without  being  acquainted.  You  thus 
gather  some  idea  of  the  task  before  us,  that  of  welding 
these  strange  units  gathered  from  every  quarter  of  the 
country  into  one  harmonious  and  enthusiastic  whole. 

At  four  in  the  morning  of  the  convention's  first  day 
I  threw  myself  upon  my  bed  in  the  hotel  happy  in  the 
consciousness  that  the  first  stage  of  the  enterprise  was 
a  success.  The  people  were  there  and  something  was 
about  to  happen.  When  I  fell  asleep  it  was  to  dream 
of  the  dawn,  when  this  great  company  gathered  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  for  a  purpose  little  known  and  lit- 
tle understood,  was  to  demonstrate  its  ability  to  make 
history  that  was  worth  making. 

Eliminating  from  the  register  women,  children,  office 
help  and  chance  visitors,   there  were  321   able  bodied, 
mentally  sound  men  at  this  convention,  representing  31 
states  and  territories,  with  one  from  Canada.     Of  these 
there  were  32  from  south  of  the  Ohio  river,  68  from  west 
of  the  Mississippi  and  three  from  New  England.     Illi- 
nois sent  40,  of  which  32  were  from  Chicago.     New  York 
sent  26,  with   14  from  New  York  City.     Ohio  sent  42, 
Michigan  92,  with  47  from  Detroit.     There  were  22  col- 
lection managers  present  representing  some  of  the  big- 
best  business  institutions  of  the  country,  such  as  Mar- 
shall Field  &  Co.,  D.  M.  Osborne  &  Co.,  Gaar,  Scott  & 
Co.,  doing  a  combined  business  of  over  $200,000,000  a 
year.     There  were  49  commercial  or  collection  agency 
men  and  just  250  lawyers  pure  and  simple,  that  is  more 
or  less  so. 

The  high  ability  of  the  membership  of  the  first  con- 
vention must  be  conceded.  Many  are  now  among  the 
most  prominent  lawyers  of  their  respective  communi- 


406  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

ties.  One  became  a  lieutenant  governor,  one  a  United 
States  senator,  some  have  become  general  counsel  for 
large  interests,  as  Marshall  Field  &  Co.,  the  Michigan 
Central  Railway,  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manu- 
facturing Company,  the  Ford  Automobile  Works. 

Several  became  presidents  of  large  banks  and  trust 
officers  in  trust  companies.  Not  a  few,  as  U.  S.  G.  Cherry, 
C.  A.  Keller,  F.  T.  Lodge,  John  Haskell  Butler,  rose 
to  the  very  top  places  in  great  fraternal  organizations. 
One  is  chairman  of  a  state  railway  commission,  one 
chairman  of  the  police  commission  of  a  large  city,  several 
are  U.  S.  district  attorneys,  several  state  senators  and 
representatives,  one  a  member  of  the  American  commis- 
sion investigating  rural  credit  systems  in  foreign  coun- 
tries and  several  hold  offices  of  honor  in  state  Bar  associa- 
tions. Two  have  been  state  attorney  generals  and  six- 
teen have  become  judges. 

Since  1895  the  League  has  had  a  steady  growth  in 
numbers,  influence  and  power. 

At  this  writing  the  League  has  reached  a  member- 
ship of  over  5,000,  a  number  that  has  been  eagerly  sought 
by  those  who  have  had  at  heart  the  increase  of  the 
League's  influence  for  the  last  ten  years. 

With  such  an  organization  as  this  the  years  of  in- 
fancy are  years  of  trial  and  discouragement.  However, 
the  League  has  never  been  lacking  in  brave  and  confi- 
dent members  who,  by  keeping  their  shoulders  to  the 
wheel,  have  brought  about  steady  growth. 

The  League  has  been  singularly  fortunate  in  its 
choice  of  officers.  Those  who  have  been  at  the  head  of 
its  afifairs  from  the  beginning  have  been  earnest,  con- 
scientious, industrious  and  faithful  officials.  Ofttimes 
in  early  days  they  had  to  go  down  in  their  own  pockets 
to  keep  the  League  afloat  financially  and  often  had  to 
draw  on  all  their  reserve  of  confidence  to  keep  their 
courage  to  the  sticking  point. 


AND    HIS    WORK  407 

The  League  has  now  reached  ground  where  it  is  un- 
assailable. No  clique  or  combination  of  men  within  it- 
self, no  scheme  or  propaganda  on  the  part  of  those  not 
within  its  ranks  can  avail  to  stop  its  onward  progress. 

The  constitution  and  by-laws  adopted  at  the  first 
Convention  have  been  modified  from  time  to  time,  but  to 
a  remarkable  degree  have  they  remained  intact  as  written 
by  the  founders. 

In  no  particular  is  the  growth  in  power  and  influence 
of  the  organization  shown  more  plainly  than  in  the 
spreading  of  its  work  among  and  in  behalf  of  its  mem- 
bers. 

From  being  an  organization  whose  main  purpose 
seemed  originally  to  be  the  stimulating  of  good  fellow- 
ship and  the  making  and  cementing  of  professional 
friendships,  with  little,  if  anything,  accomplished  outside 
of  conventions,  the  League  has  developed  into  a  com- 
plicated machine  with  work  sufficient  to  keep  its  officers 
and  committees  well  employed  and  with  something  for 
every  member  to  do. 

The  League  has  taken  its  place  among  the  great  or- 
ganizations of  the  country  and  stands  among  the  law- 
yers as  the  only  organization  that  is  doing  practical 
things  relating  to  the  practice  of  the  commercial  branch 
of  the  law. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  go  back  over  the  various 
Conventions  and  note  the  many  incidents  of  historical 
interest  that  have  taken  place.  This  must  be  left  to  the 
hand  of  the  future  historian  with  the  time  and  the  en- 
thusiasm necessary  to  such  a  story.  It,  however,  should 
be  noted  that  at  these  Conventions  the  League  has  been 
addressed  by  many  men  prominent  in  national  affairs, 
among  them  Hon,  Wm.  J.  Bryan,  Hon.  Chas.  \V.  Fair- 
child,  Senators  and  ex-Senators  Thurston,  Manderson, 
Wm.  Walter  Smith,  Shafroth,  and  many  judges.  Federal 
and  State,  referees  in  bankruptcy,  governors,  mayors 
and  men  of  prominence  in  various  walks  of  life. 


408  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

It  would  be  improper  to  close  this  brief  sketch  with- 
out reference  to  the  social  features  of  the  League.  Per- 
haps no  organization  in  the  country  has  developed  a 
stronger  social  side  than  has  the  Commercial  Law  League 
of  America.  Its  Conventions  from  the  first  have  been  like 
family  gatherings,  which  not  only  members  of  the 
League  have  taken  advantage  of,  but  also  their  families 
and  friends.  So  many  and  so  varied  have  been  the 
League's  social  and  entertainment  functions,  and  so  prof- 
itable its  business  sessions  that  once  a  member  has  at- 
tended a  Convention  it  is  rare  he  misses  another  and 
fails  to  take  with  him  his  family  and  friends. 

Those  who  founded  the  League  in  1895  little  dreamed 
of  the  character  and  power  of  the  edifice  that  would  be 
built  on  the  foundations.  Many  of  us  who  now  live, 
and  strive  for  the  benefit  of  the  League,  will  doubtless 
live  to  see  an  organization  at  the  close  of  another  decade 
as  far  superior  to  the  one  we  now  enjoy  as  is  the  present 
organization  over  that  which  existed  in  the*  '90s. 

Constitution  and  By-Laws 

of  the 
COMMERCIAL  LAW  LEAGUE  OF  AMERICA. 

CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE  I. 
Name  and  Objects. 

This  association  shall  be  known  as  the  Commercial  Law 
League  of  America.  Its  objects  shall  be  to  promote  uniformity 
of  legislation  in  matters  affecting  commercial  law;  to  elevate  the 
standard  and  improve  the  practice  of  commercial  law;  to  encour- 
age an  honorable  course  of  dealing  amongst  its  members  and  in 
the  profession  at  large ;  and  to  foster  among  its  members  a  feel- 
ing of  fraternity  and  mutual  confidence. 

ARTICLE  II. 
Membership. 

Section  1.  A  white  person  or  a  person  of  Indian  descent, 
either  of  the  full  blood  or  partly  of  Indian  blood  and  partly  white 
blood,  residing  in  North  or  South  America  or  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  United  States,  who  is  a  reputable  lawyer  in  active 
practice,  or  an  officer  or  manager  of  a  reputable  collection  agency 
or  bureau,  or  the  publisher  or  editor  of  a  reputable  commercial 
law  journal  or  legal  directory,  shall  be  eligible  to  membership  in 
this  League. 


AND    HIS    WORK  409 

Any  member,  excepting  one  who  may  be  elected  or  appointed 
to  a  judicial  or  executive  office,  who  shall  cease  to  possess  the 
qualifications  for  membership  hereinbefore  prescribed,  may,  by 
vote  of  the  Executive  Committee,  have  his  membership  termi- 
nated. Thirty  (30)  days'  notice  of  the  contemplated  action  of 
the  Executive  Committee  shall  be  given  to  such  member  and  the 
member  so  proceeded  against  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  be 
heard. 

Section  2.  The  League,  at  its  Conventions,  on  the  recommen- 
dation of  its  Executive  Committee,  may  confer  honorary  member- 
ship on  persons  of  distinction,  such  membership,  carrying  with 
it  none  of  the  privileges  of  membership,  save  the  right  to  sit  in 
convention  and  take  part  in  debate;  and  by  unanimous  vote  of 
the  Convention,  such  honorary  membership  may  carry  with  it  all 
the  privileges  of  membership  in  the  League. 

ARTICLE  III. 
Officers. 

1.  The  Officers  of  the  League  shall  be  a  President,  a  Vice- 
President,  a  Treasurer,  a  Recording  Secretary;  there  shall  also 
be  a  Secretary  of  the  League,  to  be  selected  as  hereinafter  pro- 
vided: 

2.  These  officers,  except  the  Secretary  of  the  League,  shall 
be  elected  at  the  annual  conventions  of  the  League,  and  shall 
serve  for  one  year,  or  until  their  successors  are  elected  and  qual- 
ified. 

3.  The  Executive  Committee  shall,  as  soon  as  practicable 
after  the  adjournment  of  each  convention,  appoint  a  Secretary  of 
the  League,  for  a  term  not  to  exceed  one  year,  and  it  shall  fix 
his  salary. 

ARTICLE  IV. 
Executive  Committee. 

Section  1.  There  shall  be  an  Executive  Committee  to  be 
composed  of  the  President,  the  Treasurer  and  six  members  to 
be  elected  by  the  League,  two  each  year,  for  a  term  of  three  years 
each ;  and  each  retiring  president  of  the  League  shall  be,  ex-officio, 
a  member  of  the  committee  for  two  years  next  succeeding  his 
official  term.  At  any  meeting  of  the  committee  six  of  the  mem- 
bers shall  constitute  a  quorum.  In  the  absence  of  such  a  quorum 
at  any  convention  of  the  League  such  convention  shall  immedi- 
ately elect  members  pro  tem,  sufficient  to  make  a  quorum,  who 
shall  serve  during  the  said  convention  or  until  a  quorum  of'  regu- 
lar members  appears.  The  president  or  the  chairman  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  may  at  any  time  order  a  vote  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  to  be  taken  by  mail. 

Any  point  of  difference  in  a  matter  germane  to  the  purposes 
of  the  League  between  members,  or  between  a  member  and  a 
non-member,  may  by  agreement  be  submitted  in  writing  for  de- 
cision on  an  agreed  statement  of  facts,  and  when  so  submitted 
shall  be  determined  in  the  manner  following,  to  wit: 

The  Secretary  of  the  League  may  determine  same  in  the  first 
instance,  or  in  his  discretion  he  may  submit  same  in  the  form 
of  an  abstract  question,  or  otherwise,  to  the  Executive  Committee. 


410  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

At  the  discretion  of  the  President,  the  decision  of  the  Executive 
Committee  may  be  pubHshed  in  the  Bulletin  for  the  information 
and  guidance  of  the  members 

ARTICLE  V. 
Eligibility  for  Re-Election. 

The  President,  Vice-President,  Recording  Secretary  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Executive  Committee  shall  not  be  eligible  for  re-elec- 
tion for  the(  next  succeeding  term;  provided  that  this  shall  not 
apply  to  a  person  appointed  to  fill  a  vacancy. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
Standing  Committees. 

There  shall  be  the  following  Standing  Committees:  Bank- 
ruptcy, Grievances,  House  Agencies,  Legislative,  Lists  and  Agen- 
cies, Membership,  Standardizing  of  Office  Methods,  Uniform  Rate, 
Unfair  Forwarders  and  Receivers,  Finance,  Education,  Ethics, 
Complaints  Against  Law  Lists,  and  Auditing. 

There  shall  also  be  appointed  by  the  President  subordinate 
legislative  committees  for  each  of  the  several  states  or  territories, 
and  for  each  of  the  other  possessions  of  the  United  States  and  for 
each  Province  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  each  subordinate  leg- 
islative committee  to  consist  of  three  members. 

All  committees  (excepting  only  those  on  Membership,  Fi- 
nance and  Auditing)  shall  consist  of  five  members  each  and  shall 
be  continuous  in  their  membership,  excepting  that  at  the  close  of 
each  administrative  year  the  committeeman  standing  first  in 
order  as  named  shall  retire  from  membership  on  the  committee. 
The  incoming  President  shall  fill  the  vacancies  in  the  commit- 
tees thus  made  (the  new  members  in  each  case  taking  fifth  place), 
and  shall  select  for  each  committee  a  chairman  from  among  its 
members.  This  enactment  shall  begin  to  operate  only  on  the 
committees  appointed  by  the  President  elected  at  the  Convention 
of  1917. 

The  Committees  on  Finance  and  Auditing  shall  each  consist 
of  three  members  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  the  first 
named  at  the  time  of  his  taking  office  and  the  second  named  on 
or  before  June  1st  of  his  administrative  year.  The  membership 
in  these  two  committees  shall  not  be  continuous. 

The  Committees  on  Membership  shall  consist  of  one  member 
from  each  of  the  several  States  and  Territories,  and  from  each  of 
the  other  possessions  of  the  United  States,  and  from  each  prov- 
ince of  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 

All  the  committees  named  in  this  article  may  act  in  meeting 
or  by  correspondence,  as  directed  by  the  Chairman,  and  the  Chair- 
man of  each  Committee  named  in  this  article  shall  make  a  report 
in  writing  each  year  of  the  doings  of  his  Committee,  which  report 
shall  be  submitted  thirty  (30)  days  prior  to  the  Convention,  to 
the  President,  and  all,  or  such  portions  of  the  report  as  shall  be 
directed  by  the  President,  shall  be  published  in  the  Bulletin  prior 
to  the  Convention. 

By  direction  of  the  Executive  Committee,  the  work  of  any 
Committee  of  the  League  may  be  divided  into  districts,  and  one 
or  more  members  of  any  Committee  assigned  to  the  work  of  the 


AND    HIS    WORK  411 

Committee  in  that  district.  By  order  of  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee, the  membership  of  any  Committee  may  be  increased. 

The  President  may  at  any  time  refer  to  any  committee  named 
in  this  article  any  subject  germane  to  the  work  of  such  Commit- 
tee. 

All  Committee  reports  shall  contain  definite  recommendations, 
or  proposed  resolutions,  to  the  consideration  of  which  the  Con- 
vention may  address  itself  for  action. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
Application  for  Membership. 

An  application  for  membership  shall  be  in  writing,  with  the 
recommendation  of  three  (3)  members  of  the  League,  and  ac- 
companied by  one  year's  dues.  The  application  shall  be  filed  with 
the  Secretary,  who  shall  notify  the  members  of  the  League  there- 
of by  mail,  stating  the  applicant's  residence  and  occupation,  and 
by  whom  he  is  recommended.  Unless  written  objection,  giving 
the  grounds  therefor,  be  filed  with  the  Secretary  within  thirty 
(30)  days  from  the  mailing  of  such  notice,  a  Certificate  of  mem- 
ership  shall  be  issued  to  such  applicant  and  his  name  entered 
upon  the  membership  roll.  Upon  receipt  of  an  objection  to  an 
applicant  for  membership,  the  Secretary  shall  at  once  transmit 
to  the  President  the  application,  the  objection  and  all  other  pa- 
pers relating  thereto,  and  the  President  shall  make  such  inves- 
tigation as  he  may  deem  proper;  and  unless  said  application  or 
objection  is  withdrawn,  he  shall  refer  the  same  to  the  Executive 
Committee,  together  with  all  information  he  may  have  obtained 
with  reference  to  the  same,  and  said  Committee's  action  thereon 
shall  be  final.  The  membership  year  shall  begin  with  the  date 
of  the  certificate. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 
By-Laws. 

By-Laws  may  be  adopted  or  repealed  at  any  session  of  the 
League,  by  a  majority  of  the  members  present. 

ARTICLE  IX. 
Dues. 

The  annual  dues  shall  be  Five  Dollars,  payable  in  advance, 
and  no  member  in  default  shall  be  entitled  to  any  of  the  privi- 
leges of  membership.  A  member  remaining  in  default  ninety 
days  after  notice  thereof,  shall  be  dropped  from  the  roll,  provided 
that  payment  of  dues  thereafter  within  one  year  from  date  of 
default  shall  have  the  efifect  of  reinstating  him.  Of  said  sum, 
fifty  cents  shall  be  paid  as  a  subscription  fee  of  each  member  to 
the  Bulletin,  published  monthly  by  the  League. 

The  Executive  Committee  may,  for  any  reason  which  it  may 
deem  sufficient,  remit  the  payment  of  the  dues  of  any  member 
of  the  League. 

Any  member  of  the  League  who  may  have  resigned  or  any 
member  who  may  have  failed  to  pay  his  dues  and  for  that  reason 
has  ceased  to  remain  a  member  of  the  League,  and  who  may  de- 
sire to  have  his  membership  in  the  League  regarded  as  continuous 
may  upon  the  payment  of  all  accrued  dues  in  full  and  by  a  vote 
of  the  Executive  Committee  be  restored  to  membership. 


412  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

ARTICLE  X. 
Annual  Convention. 

The  League  shall  convene  annually  at  such  time  and  place 
as  may  be  determined  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

ARTICLE  XI. 
Amendments. 

This  constitution  may  be  amended  at  any  regular  convention 
of  the  League  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present  and 
voting  thereon,  provided  that  no  amendment  shall  be  considered 
on  the  day  on  which  it  is  offered,  unless  the  same  has  been  ap- 
proved by  the  Executive  Committee. 

BYLAWS. 

ARTICLE  I. 
Duties  of  Officers,  Committees  and  Employes. 

Section  1.  President.  The  President  shall  be  the  Chief  Ex- 
ecutive of  the  League,  and  preside  at  all  meetings  thereof.  Any 
action  of  the  President  executory  in  its  nature  may  be  suspended 
by  an  affirmative  vote  of  a  majority  of  the  Eecutive  Committee. 
He  shall  sign  warrants  on  the  Treasurer  for  payment  of  all  ac- 
counts approved  by  the  Finance  Committee.  He  shall  perform 
such  other  duties  as  shall  be  required  of  him  by  the  League  or 
the  Executive  Committee. 

Section  2.  Vice-President.  In  the  event  of  the  death,  absence 
or  disability  of  the  President,  the  Vice-President  shall  perform 
the  duties  of  the  President. 

Section  3.  Executive  Committee.  The  Executive  Committee 
shall  have  general  supervision  and  direction  of  the  officers,  com- 
mittees and  affairs  of  the  League. 

Section  4.  Secretary.  The  Secretary  shall  keep  all  records, 
correspondence,  books,  accounts  and  other  documents  belonging 
to  the  Executive  Committee  and  the  League,  except  the  minutes 
of  the  conventions,  and  perform  all  other  duties  usually  apper- 
taining to  the  office.  He  shall  be  clerk  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, attend  all  its  meetings,  and  make  and  preserve  complete 
minutes  of  its  proceedings.  He  shall  at  all  times  act  under  the 
direction  of  the  President,  subject  to  the  superintending  control 
of  the  Executive  Committee.  He  shall  receive  and  pay  to  the 
Treasurer  all  moneys  belonging  to  the  League  and  prepare  and 
transmit  to  the  President  warrants  upon  the  Treasurer  for  pay- 
ment of  all  accounts  approved  by  the  Finance  Committee.  He 
shall  be  furnished  a  contingent  fund  to  be  disbursed  only  on 
voucher  checks  and  to  be  accounted  for  monthly  to  the  Finance 
Committee  and  the  President. 

Section  5.  Recording  Secretary.  The  Recording  Secretary 
shall  discharge  his  duties  in  such  manner  as  may  be  directed  by 
the  President. 

Section  6.  Treasurer.  The  Treasurer  shall  be  the  custodian 
of  the  funds  of  the  League,  and  shall  disburse  the  same  on  the 
warrant  of  the  President. 

Section  7.  Bonding  Officers.  The  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
shall  each  give  bond  in  such  amounts  as  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee may  from  time  to  time  determine. 


AND    HIS    WORK  413 

Section  8.  The  Bankruptcy  Committee.  The  Bankruptcy 
Committee  shall  consider,  from  time  to  time,  the  matter  of 
Amendments  to  the  Bankruptcy  Law,  and  all  things  germane  to 
the  practice  and  administration  of  the  Bankruptcy  Law,  and  re- 
port thereon  to  the  League. 

Section  9.  The  Committee  on  Grievances.  The  Committee 
on  Grievances  shall  investigate  and  consider  all  complaints  re- 
ferred to  it  by  the  President,  against  any  person  who  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  League  at  the  time  the  complaint  is  lodged.  This  com- 
mittee shall  also  comply  with  Article  4  of  these  by-laws. 

Section  10.  The  Committee  on  House  Agencies.  The  Com- 
mittee on  House  Agencies  shall  investigate  all  matters  affecting 
the  existence  of  House  Agencies  referred  to  it,  either  by  the  Pres- 
ident or  the  Secretary.  The  Committee  shall  report  as  to  whether 
or  not  the  Agency  named  is  a  House  Agency,  and  upon  the  re- 
port of  the  House  Agency  Committee  being  filed  with  the  Secre- 
tary, such  report  shall  be  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee, 
who  shall  determine  the  question  whether  the  Agency  in  question 
is  or  is  not  a  House  Agency.  Upon  the  Executive  Committee 
making  its  finding  in  the  matter,  and  in  the  event  that  the  agency 
proceeded  against  is  found  to  be  a  House  Agency,  then  the  name 
of  such  Agency  shall  be  reported  to  the  members  as  a  House 
Agency. 

Section  11.  The  Legislative  Committee.  The  Legislative 
Committee  shall  report  at  each  Convention  of  the  League  upon 
all  matters  afifecting  Legislation,  and  especially  with  respect  to 
the  extent  to  which  members  of  the  League  may  be  interested 
in  the  interpretation  of  written  laws,  in  a  study  of  the  method 
of  their  enactment,  and  in  a  realization  of  the  importance  of  an 
understanding  of  the  interpretation  and  method  of  enactment  of 
written  laws  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  League. 

The  Legislative  Committee  shall  also  make  a  study  of  com- 
parative state  laws  afifecting  the  work  and  interests  of  this  League, 
its  members  and  the  object  of  its  solicitude  and  concern,  and  re- 
port the  results  of  its  research  to  the  League  and  to  dififuse  in- 
formation regarding  same  to  the  several  subordinate  legislative 
committees.  The  subordinate  legislative  committees  shall,  in 
their  respective  jurisdictions,  co-operate  with  the  general  com- 
mittee on  legislation  of  the  League  in  relation  to  the  performance 
of  the  duties  and  rendition  of  the  service  above  set  forth. 

Section  12.  Lists  and  Agencies  Committee.  The  Lists  and 
Agencies  Committee  shall  investigate  and  report  the  standing  and 
value  each  year  of  the  various  Legal  Publications  and  Lists. 
They  shall  have  power,  under  the  authority  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  to  make  inquiry  of  various  members,  and  combine 
the  result  of  such  inquiries  in  tabulated  form,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  members  of  the  League. 

Section  13.  Committee  on  Membership.  It  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Committee  on  Membership,  by  all  proper  means  within  its 
power,  to  increase  the  membership  of  the  League,  and  to  keep  with 
in  the  membership  of  the  League  those  who  have  joined  the  same. 

Section  14.  Committee  on  Standardizing  of  Office  Methods. 
The   Committee   on    Standardizing   of   Oflfice    Methods   shall   con- 


414  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

sider,  from  time  to  time,  systems  which  may  have  for  their  object 
the  standardizing  of  ofifice  methods. 

Section  15.  Committee  on  Uniform  Rates.  The  Committee 
on  Uniform  Rates  shall,  by  all  means  within  its  power,  encourage 
the  adoption  of  the  Schedule  of  Uniform  Rates  recommended  by 
the  League,  and  shall  report  to  the  Convention,  from  time  to 
time,  what  steps  in  its  opinion  may  properly  be  taken  looking 
to  that  end. 

Section  16.  The  Committee  on  Unfair  Forwarders  and  Unfair 
Receivers  shall  consider  all  matters  involving  the  proper  method 
of  Forwarding  and  Receiving  commercial  business,  and  shall  re- 
port to  the  Convention  such  methods  as  may  tend  to  eliminate 
unfair  practices  in  forwarding  and  receiving. 

Section  17.  Finance  Committee.  The  Finance  Committee  shall 
examine  and  pass  on  all  claims  against  the  League. 

Section  18.  Education.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Commit- 
tee on  Education  to  carry  out  the  expressed  policy  of  the  League 
with  respect  to  education  in  the  practice  of  Commercial  Law. 

Section  19.  Auditing  Committee.  The  Secretary  and  Treas- 
urer shall  each  transmit,  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  last  day 
of  each  month,  a  detailed  statement  of  all  receipts  and  disburse- 
ments for  the  preceding  months  to  the  President  of  the   League. 

Section  20.     Complaints  against  Law  Lists: 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Committee  on  Complaints  Against 
Law  Lists  to  take  cognizance  of  complainte  made  by  our  members 
against  publishers  of  law  lists  and  directories;  other  than  such 
complaints  as  such  committee  shall  deem  trivial,  ivestigate  the 
same,  and  report  the  result  of  its  findings  to  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, who  shall  take  such  action  in  the  premises  as  it  deems 
best  to  protect  the  interest  of  the  League  and  its  members;  also 
to  propose  to  the  League  in  Convention  from  time  to  time  such 
action  as  will  tend  to  unify  the  interests  of  publisher  and  sub- 
scriber and  produce  harmony  and  sympathy  in  their  mutual  deal- 
ings. 

Section  21:     Ethics: 

The  duty  of  the  Committee  on  Ethics  shall  be  to  present  to 
the  League  from  time  to  time  its  interpretation  of  ethical  rules 
laid  down  by  this  League  and  to  formulate  such  new  canons  or 
rules  as  will  express  the  views  of  the  League  on  questions  whose 
ethical  bearing  is  not  already  defined  or  well  understood  by  the 
members,  and  to  emphasize  the  accepted  canons  in  their  bearing 
on  special  and  peculiar  conditions  that  ofttimes  arise  in  the  field 
of  commercial  law  and  collections;  and  in  general  to  educate  the 
members  of  the  League  toward  a  high  standard  of  business  and 
professional  ethics. 

The  Fiscal  Year  of  the  League  shall  end  on  the  last  day  of 
June  of  each  year,  and  on  or  about  the  first  day  of  July,  in  each 
year,  the  President  shall  appoint  an  Auditing  Committee,  who 
shall  be  authorized  to  employ  certified  public  accountants  o  audit 
the  books  of  the  League,  or  may  themselves  make  such  audit. 
Such  Committee  shall  report  to  the  next  Convention  of  the 
League. 


AND    HIS    WORK  416 

ARTICLE  II. 
Vacancies. 

All  vacancies  shall  be  filled  for  the  unexpired  term  by  ap- 
pointment by  the  President,  which  appointment  shall  be  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  Executive  Committee.  The  failure  of  a 
member  elected  or  appointed  to  an  office  or  a  committee  to  ac- 
cept the  same,  and  quahfy  therefor,  when  required,  within  thirty 
days  after  notification,  or  his  failure  to  maintain  membership, 
shall  constitute  a  vacancy. 

ARTICLE  III. 
Removals  from  Office. 

Section  1.  Any  officer  may  be  removed  for  cause  by  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee. 

Section  2.  Any  member  of  a  standing  or  special  committee 
may  be  removed  for  cause  by  the  action  of  the  President. 

ARTICLE  IV. 
Discipline. 

Section  1.  The  Grievance  Committee  shall  consist  of  five 
members,  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  elected  at  the  1916 
Convention  of  the  League.  Such  appointees  shall  hold  office  for 
one  (1),  two  (2),  three  (3),  four  (4)  and  five  (5)  years,  in  the 
order  of  their  designation  by  the  President.  Thereafter  the  Pres- 
ident shall  annually  appoint  the  successor  to  the  committeeman 
whose  term  has  expired,  and  shall  fill  vacancies  caused  by  resig- 
nation, death  or  otherwise.  (The  committeeman  senior  in  ser- 
vice shall  be  the  chairman  of  the  committee.) 

Section  2.  A  member  of  the  League  who  shall  be  found 
guilty  of  improper,  immoral  or  unprofessional  conduct,  or  con- 
duct violative  of  his  duties  as  such  member,  may  be  expelled. 

Section  3.  A  member  who  shall  be  disbarred  shall  be  ex- 
pelled. 

Section  4.  Charges  against  a  member  shall  be  made  in  writ- 
ing to  the  President  or  Secretary,  but  the  President  may,  at  his 
discretion,  and  on  his  own  motion,  by  written  request,  require 
the  Grievance  Committee  to  investigate  any  member,  and  in  each 
case  the  written  request  shall  be  deemed  a  complaint.  The  Pres- 
ident may,  and  in  the  event  that  such  charges  involve  a  question 
of  moral  turpitude,  shall  refer  the  charges  to  the  Grievance  Com- 
mittee, and  send  the  accused  a  copy  thereof,  requesting  a  written 
reply  thereto,  which,  when  received,  shall  be  transmitted  to  the 
Grievance  Committee.  The  Grievance  Committee  shall  make 
such  investigation  of  the  charge  or  charges  as  it  may  deem  nec- 
essary, giving  the  accused  the  right  to  be  heard,  and  shall  file  its 
decision,  together  with  all  the  evidence  and  correspondence,  with 
the  Secretary. 

Section  5.  If  the  decision  of  the  committee  be  to  the  effect 
that  accused  is  innocent  of  the  charge  or  charges,  such  decision 
shall  be  final.  If  the  finding  of  the  Committee  is  against  the  ac- 
cused, he  shall  stand  suspended  from  the  League  unless  he  shall 
within  fifteen  days  after  receipt  of  copy  of  the  decision  of  the 
committee  file  with  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  his  petition 
in  writing  requesting  a  review  of  such  proceedings  and  a  reversal 


416  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

of  the  order  and  ruling  of  the  Grievance  Committee,  whereupon 
the  chairman  of  such  committee  shall  within  thirty  days  there- 
after file  all  papers,  proofs,  arguments  and  other  documents  re- 
lating to  such  charges  and  the  hearing  had  thereon  and  the  de- 
cision rendered  thereon,  with  the  President  of  the  League,  who 
shall  refer  the  same  to  the  Executive  Committee,  which  com- 
mittee shall  review  the  record  of  said  proceeding  and  render  such 
judgment  and  order  as  it  deems  proper,  and  the  decision  of  the 
Executive  Committee  shall  be  final  and  conclusive  as  to  the  ac- 
cused and  the  League.     Either  side  has  the  right. 

Section  6.  The  Grievance  Committee,  with  approval  of  Pres- 
ident, shall  have  power  to  employ  counsel  and  incur  all  neces- 
sary expense  of  taking  testimony  and  conducting  proceedings  on 
accusations  against  members.  It  shall  file  with  its  report  on  each 
charge  a  statement  of  its  expenses  in  connection  therewith,  and 
the  same  shall  be  audited  and  paid  in  the  same  manner  as  other 
charges  against  the  League. 

ARTICLE  V. 
Monthly  Bulletin. 

The  League  shall  publish,  under  the  direction  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  each  month  a  publication,  to  be  known  as  the 
"Monthly  Bulletin,"  to  be  used  as  the  official  medium  of  com- 
munication of  the  League. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  have  the  right,  in  its  judg- 
ment, to  publish  articles  of  interest  to  commercial  lawyers,  and 
to  sell  space  for  advertisements  other  than  professional  cards  of 
attorneys,  collection  agencies  or  legal  directories  therein. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
Quorum. 

Fifty  (50)  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  at  any  meeting 
of  the  League. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
Rules  of  Order. 

In  all  questions  of  order  and  parliamentary  practice  not  cov- 
ered by  the  Constitution  and  these  By-Laws,  Robert's  Rules  of 
Order  shall  govern. 

HOUSE    AGENCIES. 

The  Commercial  Law  League  of  America  Has  Adopted  the  Fol- 
lowing: Resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  the  custom  generally  prevailing  in  the  com- 
mercial law  and  collection  world  of  dividing  fees  between  the  for- 
warder and  the  receiver  never  contemplated  a  division  of  fees 
between  the  attorney  and  the  client;  that  when  an  attorney  di- 
vides his  fees  with  an  office  employe,  whether  said  employe  is 
on  salary  or  on  commission,  and  whether  his  place  of  business 
is  the  same  as  that  of  his  employer  or  not,  nor  in  any  case  where 
the  employer  gets  the  benefit  of  the  one-third  of  the  total  fee, 
said  attorney  is  dividing  fees  with  his  client;  that  the  attorney 
is  justified,  on  discovering  the  fact  that  he  is  being  asked  to  di- 


AND    HIS    WORK  417 

vide  his  fees  with  the  client,  in  a  case  where  the  work  is  done 
and  the  fee  earned,  in  withholding  the  entire  fee;  that  on  the 
receipt  of  business  from  an  agency  which  he  knows  to  be  a  house 
agency,  or  is  presumed  to  know  it  from  the  same  being  published 
in  the  League  Bulletin,  the  attorney  should  return  the  business 
and  refuse  to  transact  it  at  other  than  regular  rates  without  di- 
vision; that  on  discovery  of  the  fact  that  the  agency  is  a  house 
agency  during  the  course  of  the  employment,  the  attorney  should 
at  once  refuse  to  proceed  with  it,  unless  on  an  agreement  to  pay 
the  full  fees;  and  on  the  return  of  the  business  being  demanded, 
he  should  be  entitled  to  compensation  for  work  done. 

That  any  collection  agency  maintained,  operated  or  connect- 
ed with  any  manufacturing,  mercantile  or  other  commercial  es- 
tablishment, or  with  a  combination  of  any  such  establishments, 
and  run  in  the  interest  of  such  manufacturing,  mercantile  or  other 
commercial  establishment,  asking  for  a  division  of  fees,  shall  be 
known  as  a  "house  agency." 

That  a  person  who  is  in  the  employ  of  a  single  creditor,  re- 
ceiving a  stated  salary,  plus  a  percentage  of  the  commissions 
charged  for  claims  sent  out  by  him  for  attention,  shall  be  clas- 
sified as  a  house  agency.  , 

That  a  person  or  persons  handling  the  commercial  collec- 
tions of  another  on  a  salary  and  turning  in  to  the  client  or  em- 
ployer the  fees  he  receives  from  attorneys  on  a  division  of  fees 
is  a  house  agency. 

That  an  officer  or  employe  of  a  business  house,  on  a  salary 
or  part  salary  and  part  commission,  giving  all  or  a  part  of  his 
time  to  the  law  and  collection  work  of  his  employer,  is  a  house 
agency,  provided  he  asks  a  division  of  the  fees. 

That  in  any  case  where  the  portion  of  the  fee  retained  by 
the  forwarder  inures  to  the  benefit  of  the  client  by  way  of  re- 
imbursing him  for  the  salary  or  other  expenses  incident  to  the 
employment  of  the  forwarder,  such  forwarder  shall  be  known 
as  a  house  agent. 

That  the  League  condemns  the  practice  on  the  part  of  house 
agencies  and  all  others  of  leading  attorneys  to  believe  that  in 
dealing  with  such  agencies  they  are  dealing  with  true  middlemen 
entitled  under  the  custom  generally  in  vogue  to  a  division  of  fees. 

That  the  Secretary  of  the  League  upon  being  advised  of  any 
collection  agency  or  individual  conducting  business  as  a  House 
Agency  as  heretofore  defined  shall  refer  the  matter  to  the  House 
Agency  Committee  for  investigation,  and  upon  action  by  that 
committee  and  the  Executive  Committee  as  provided,  the  find- 
ing, if  it  be  adverse  to  the  party  complained  of,  be  published  to 
the  members  for  their  guidance,  and  the  Secretary  is  directed 
to  request  of  all  members  that  they  send  to  him  the  names  and 
addresses  of  all  business  houses  and  individuals  conducting  such 
agencies. 

That  in  presenting  to  the  Secretarys  office  a  question  or  com- 
plaint as  to  a  suspected  house  agency,  the  members  be  required 
to  give  with  their  question  or  complaint  all  the  information  they 
have  as  to  the  nature  of  the  agency  asked  about  or  complained 
of  and  as  to  whether  or  not  a  division  of  fees  was  asked,  and 
what  induced  them  to  suspect  that  the  agency  in  question  was 
a  house  agency. 


418  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

That  inasmuch  as  an  investigation  of  suspected  house  agen- 
cies requires  personal  work  on  the  part  of  individuals  in  many 
localities,  and  as  neither  the  Secretary's  office  nor  the  members 
of  the  committee  can  do  this  personal  work  excepting  in  their 
respective  cities,  and  whereas  the  League  is  a  mutual,  co-opera- 
tive body,  in  which  each  member  is  bound  to  do  what  he  can 
to  further  its  interests,  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Convention  that  the 
members  of  the  League  owe  no  greater  duty  to  it  and  to  them- 
selves than  to  promptly  and  fully  render  service  in  their  respec- 
tive localities  when  called  upon  by  the  House  Agency  Commit- 
tee to  investigate  suspected  cases  of  house  agencies. 

That  the  Executive  Committee  be  authorized  to  adopt  rules 
and  regulations  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  House  Agency 
Committee  shall  transact  its  business. 

That  the  name  of  any  member  of  the  League  who  is  himself 
found  to  be  a  house  agent  shall  be  dropped  from  the  rolls  of  the 
League  on  a  vote  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

That  the  Executive  Committee  be  empowered  at  least  once 
in  every  twelve  months  to  publish  in  the  League  Bulletin  com- 
plete data  as  to  bar  rates  in  towns  and  cities,  so  arranged  or  tab- 
ulated as  to  be  of  practical  use  in   the  forwarding  for  business. 


AND    HIS    WORK  419 


APPENDIX 

DIRECTORY    OF    ADJUSTMENT    BUREAUS    CONDUCTED 
BY  LOCAL  CREDIT  MEN'S  ASSOCIATIONS. 

California,  Los  Angeles,  F.  C.  De  Lano,  Mgr.,  Higgins  Bldg. 

California,  San  Diego,  Carl  O.  Retsloff,  Mgr.,  607-608  Spreckles'  Bldg. 

California,  San  Francisco,  Felix  S.  Jeffries,  461  Market  St. 

Colorado,  Pueblo,  F.  L.  Taylor,  Mgr.  410  Central  Block. 

Connecticut,  New  Haven,  Adjustment  Committee,  Clarence  W. 
Bronson,  129  Church  St. 

District  of  Columbia,  Washington,  R.  Preston  Shealey,  Secy,  and 
Mgr.,  726  Colorado  Bldg. 

Florida,  Jacksonville,  H.  Lyle,  Mgr.,  506  Dyal-Upchurch  Bldg. 

Florida,  Tampa,  Arthur  Masters,  320  Citizens'  Bank  Bldg. 

Georgia,  Atlanta,  H.  A.  Ferris,  Mgr.,  304  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Bldg. 

Georgia,  Augusta,  H.  M.  Oliver,  Mgr.,  6  Campbell  Bldg. 

Georgia,  Macon,  J.  B.  Meyer,  Mgr.,  Macon  Association  of  Credit 
Men. 

Georgia,  Savannah,  E.  J.  Sullivan,  Sec'y,  Savannah  Salvage  &  Ad- 
justment Bureau,  Germania  Bank  Bldg. 

Idaho,  Boise,  D.  J.  A.  Dirks,  Mgr.,  305  Idaho  Bldg. 

Illinois,  Chicago,  M.  C.  Rasmussen,  Mgr.,  10  S.  La  Salle  St. 

Illinois  Decatur,  C.  A.  I\IcMinen,  409  Milliken  Bldg. 

Indiana,  Evansville,  H.  W.  Voss,  Mgr.,  Furniture  Exchange  Bldg. 

Indiana,  Indianapolis,  W.  E.  Balch,  Mgr.,  7th  Floor  News  Bldg. 

Indiana,  Muncie,  Roy  W.  Clark,  615  Wysor  Bldg. 

Indiana,  South  Bend.  L.  M.  Hammerschmidt,  710  J.  M.  S.  Bldg. 

Iowa,  Cedar  Rapids,  J.  J.  Lenihan,  ^Igr.,  Luberger  &  Lenihan. 

Iowa,  Davenport,  Isaac  Petersberger,  Mgr.,  222  Lane  Bldg. 

Iowa,  Des  Moines,  A.  \Y.  Brett,  Mgr.,  708  Youngman  Bldg. 

Iowa,  Sioux  City,  Peter  Balkema,  601  Trimble  Bldg. 

Kansas,  Wichita,  M.  E.  Garrison,  Mgr.,  1009  Beacon  Bldg. 

Kentucky,  Lexington,  C.  L.  Williamson,  Mgr.,  1312  Fayette  Na- 
tional Bank  Bldg. 

Kentucky,  Louisville,  Chas.  Fitzgerald,  Mgr.,  45  U.  S.  Trust  Co. 
Bldg. 

Louisiana,  New  Orleans,  E.  Pilsburv,  Supt.,  608  Canal-Louisiana 
Bank  Bldg. 

Maryland,  Baltimore,  S.  D.  Buck,  Mgr.,  100  Hopkins  Place. 

Massachusetts,  Boston,  H.  A.  Whiting,  Sec'y,  77  Summer  St. 

Michigan,  Grand  Rapids,  Walter  H.  Brooks,  Sec'y,  537  Michigan 
Trust  Bldg. 

Michigan,  Saginaw,  John  Hopkins,  Sec'y,  315  Bearinger  Bldg., 
Saginaw. 

Minnesota,  Duluth,  W.  O.  Derby,  Mgr.,  624  Manhattan  Bldg. 

Minnesota,  Minneapolis,  J.  P.  Galbraith,  Mgr.,  241  Endicott  Bldg., 
St.  Paul. 

Minnesota,  St.  Paul,  John  P.  Galbraith,  Mgr.,  241  Endicott  Bldg. 

Missouri,  Kansas  City,  J.  T.  Franey,  Mgr.,  303-7  New  England 
Bldg. 

Missouri,  St.  Louis,  J.  W.  Chilton,  330  Boatmen's  Bank  Bldg. 

Montana,  Billings,  H.  C.  Stringham,  Sec'y,  Electric  Bldg. 

Montana,  Butte,  R.  E.  Clawson,  Asst.  Sec'y,  Ind.  Telephone  Bldg 


420  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Nebraska,    Lincoln   and   Omaha,    E.    E.    Closson,    Mgr.,    Karbabch 

Block,  Omaha. 
New  Jersey,  Newark,  F.  B.  Broughton,  Mgr.,  671   Broad  St. 
New  York,  Buffalo,  W.  B.  Grandison,  Mgr.,  1001  Mutual  Life  Bldg. 
New  York,  Syracuse,  Central  New  York  Credit  and  Adjustment 

Bureau,  Inc.,  C.  A.  Butler,  Mgr.,  702-703  Snow  Bldg. 
Ohio,  Cincinnati,  John  L.  Richey  Sec'y,  631  Union  Trust  Bldg 
Ohio,  Cleveland,  T.  C.  Keller,  Commissioner,  326  Engineers  Bldg. 
Ohio,  Columbus,  B.  G.  Watson,  Mgr.,  411  The  New  First  National 

Bank  Bldg. 
Ohio,  Toledo,  Fred  A.  Brown,  Mgr.,  723  Nicholas  Bldg. 
Ohio,  Youngstown,  W.  C.  McKain,  Mgr.,   1106  Mahoning  National 

Bank  Bldg. 
Oklahoma,    Oklahoma    City,    Eugene    Miller,    Mgr.,    625    Insurance 

Bldg. 
Oklahoma,  Tulsa,  W.  A.  Rayson,  Mgr.,  Simmons  Bldg. 
Oregon,  Portland,  W.  B.  Lay  ton,  Mgr.,  641  Pittock  Block. 
Pennsylvania,  Allentown,  Lehigh  Valley  Association  of  Credit  Men. 

J.  H.  J.  Reinhard,  402  Hunsicker  Bldg. 
Pennsylvania,  Newcastle,  Roy  M.  Jamison,  Mgr.,  509  Greer  Block. 
Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,    David   A.    Longacre,    Room  801,    1011 

Chestnut  St. 
Pennsylvania,  Pittsburgh,  A.  C.  Ellis,  Mgr.,  1209  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce Bldg. 
Pennsylvania,     Wilkes-Barre,     G.     H.     McDonnell,     Sec'y,     720-724 

Miners'  Bank  Bldg. 
Rhode    Island,    Providence,    Lewis   Swift,   Jr.,   Commissioner,    1117 

Turks  Head  Bldg. 
South  Carolina,  Columbia,  J.  M.  Cozart,  1108  Palmetto  Bank  Bldg. 
Tennessee,  Chattanooga,  J.  H.  McCallum,  Mgr.,  Hamilton  National 

Bank  Bldg. 
Tennessee,  Memphis,    Oscar    H.    Cleveland,    Mgr.,    Business    Men's 

Club  Bldg. 
Tennessee,  Nashville,   Chas.    H.   Warwick,    Mgr.,   803-805   Stahlman 

Bldg. 
Texas,  El  Paso,  S.  W.  Daniels,  Mgr.,  35  City  National  Bank  Bldg. 
Texas,  Houston,    F.    G.    Masquelette,    1117    Union    National    Bank 

Bldg. 
Texas,  San  Antonio,  Henry  A.  Hirshberg,  Mgr.,  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. 
Utah,   Salt   Lake   City,   Walter   Wright,   Mgr.,    1411   Walker   Bank 

Bldg. 
Virginia,  Norfolk,  Shelton  N.  Woodard,  Mgr.,  1210  National  Bank 

of  Commerce  Bldg. 
Virginia,  Richmond,  To  Lane  Stern,  Mgr.,  905  Travelers'  Insurance 

Bldg. 
Wa.shington,  Seattle,  L.  H.  Macomber,  Mgr.,  Poison  Bldg. 
Washington,  Spokane,    T.    B.    Campbell,    Mgr.,    1124    Old    National 

Bank  Bldg. 
Washington,  Tacoma,  W.  W.  Keyes,  Mgr.,  802  Tacoma  Bldg. 
West  Virginia,  Clarksburg,  Central  W.  Va.  Credit  and  Adjustment 

Bureau,  U.  R.  Hoffman,  Mgr.,  410  Union  Bank  Bldg. 
West  Virginia,  Huntington,  Tri-State  Credit  and  Adjustment  Bu- 
reau, Inc.,  G.  C.  Adams,  Mgr.,  705  Frist  Nat.  Bank  Bldg. 
West  Virginia,  Parkersburg,  H.  W.  Russell,  Mgr.,  Rectory  Bldg. 


AND    HIS    WORK  42i 

^^  AtSitoriiim^^^^^^'"^'  ^'  ^-  S^^^"h^«e>  Mgr.,  Room  8,  Market, 

Wisconsin,  Fond  du  Lac,  A.  P.  Baker,  Commercial  Nat.  Bank  Bldg 

Wisconsm,  Green  Bay,  J.  V.  Rorer.  212  Bellin-Buchanan  Bldg      ^" 

BTnTi31dg^^^  ^^'         ^'^^  Wetzler,  Mgr.,  734  First  National 

Wisconsin    Oshkosh,  Chas.  D.  Breon,  Mfg.,  83  Monument  Square; 
Asst.  Mgr.,  Bessie  Cronk,  83  Monument  Square. 

OFFICES  OF  R.  G.  DUN  &   CO. 

Abilene,  Tex.,  Pine  and  N.  Third  Streets. 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  49-51  State  Street 

Albuquerque    N.  Mex.,  State   National  Bank  Bldg.,  Central  Ave- 

nue  and  Second  Street 
AUentown,     Pa      Allentown    National    Bank    Building,    Seventh 

Street  and  Central  Square 
Amarillo,  Tex.,  5131/2  Polk  Street. 
Atchison,  Kan.,  120  North  Fifth  Street 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  Austell  Building,  10  North  Forsyth  Street 
Augusta,  Ga.,  851  Broad  Street. 
Austin,  Tex.,  corner  Sixth  and  Congress  Streets 

sTreets  ^^'^"   ^^'^^^"^   '^™'^   Building,    Calvert   and    German 
Bganor,  Me.,  Columbia  Building,  15  Columbia  Street 
Beaumont,  Tex.,  Pearlstein  Building 
Beaver  Falls,   Pa.,   1211-13  Seventh  Avenue 

Bmghaniton,  N    Y.,  Phelps  Bank  Building,  18  Chenango  Street. 
Birmingham,  Ala.,  Woodward  Building,  First  Avenue  and  Twen- 
tieth Street. 
Boston,  Mass.,  3  Winthrop  Square  and  36  Otis  Street 
Bridgeport,   Conn.,  83   Fairfield  Avenue 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Dun  Building,  112  Pearl  Street 
Butte,  Mont.,  126  West  Granite  Street. 
Cairo,  111.,  617  Ohio  Street. 
Canton,   O     Renkert  Building,  corner  Market  Avenue  North  and 

Third  Street  Northeast. 
Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa    Cedard  Rapids  Savings  Bank  Building. 
Charleston,  S.  C,  191  Meeting  Street 
Charleston,  W.  Va.,  Citizens'  National   Bank  Building 
Chattanooga    Tenn.,   Hamilton   National   Bank   Building,   Seventh 

and  Market  Streets. 
Chicago,  111     New  York  Life  Building,  La  Salle  and  Monroe  Sts. 
Cincinnati,  O.,  First  National  Bank  Building,  Fourth  and  Walnut 

otreets. 
Cleveland,  O.,  Century  Building,  414  Superior  Avenue    N    W 
Columbia,  S.  C,  National  Loan  &   Exchange  Bank  Building.  ' 
Columbus,  Ga.,  Gilbert  Building,  HVo  East  Twelfth  Street 
Columbus,  O.,  Brunson  Building,  145  North  High  Street 
Dallas,  Tex.,   lOSVa  Field  Street. 

Davenport,  Iowa,  Putnam  Building,  Second  and  Main  Streets 
Dayton,  O.    Conover  Building,  Third  and  Main  Streets 
Denver,  Colo     Exchange  Building,  Fifteenth  and  Arapahoe  Streets. 
Des  Momes    Iowa,  Securities  Building,  412-416  Seventh  Street 
Detroit,   Mich.,   Union   Trust  Building. 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  Kiene  Building,  Fourth  and  Main  Streets. 


422  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Duluth,  Minn.,  Lonsdale  Building,  Superior  Street  and  Third  Ave- 
nue West. 
Easton,  Pa..  Northampton  and  Fourth  Streets. 
Elmira,  N.  Y.,  Hulett  Building,  East  Water  and  Lake  Streets. 
El  Paso,  Tex.,  Guaranty  Trust  Building. 
Erie,  Pa.,  Penn  Building,  State  and  Eighth  Streets. 
Evansville,  Ind.,  corner  Fourth  and  Vine  Streets. 
Fort  Smith,    Ark.,  First  National  Bank  Building. 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  Calhoun  and  Main  Streets. 

Forth  Worth,  Tex.,  Dan  Waggoner  Bldg.,  Sixth  and  Houston  Sts. 
Galveston,  Tex.,  Twenty-second  and  Mechanic  Streets. 
Gloversville,  N.  Y.,  Knox  Building,  52-58  South  Main  Street. 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  Michigan  Trust  Company  Building. 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  Room  411  Bellin-Buchanan  Building. 
Greenville,  S.  C,  134  North  Main  Street. 

Harrisburg,  Pa.,  Commonwealth  Trust  Building,  222  Market  Street. 
Hartford,  Conn.,  36  Pearl  Street. 

Helena,   Mont.,   National   Bank  of  Montana   Building,   corner   Ed- 
wards and  Main  Streets. 
Houston,  Tex.,  Franklin  and  Travis  Streets. 
Indianapolis,  Ind.,  State  Life  Building. 
Jacksonville,   Fla.,  137  East  Forsyth  Street. 
Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  114  West  Third  Street. 

Jersey  City,  N.  J.,  Commercial  Trust  Building,  15  Exchange  Place. 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  1012  Baltimore  Avenue. 

Keokuk,  Iowa,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Building. 

KnoxviUe,  Tenn.,  529-531  Gay  Street. 

La  Crosse,  Wis.,  Batavia  National  Bank  Building. 

Lincoln,  Neb.,  Tenth  and  O  Streets. 

Little  Rock,  Ark.,  7,  8  and  9  Bank  of  Commerce  Building. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  International  Bank  Bldg.,  Temle  and  Spring  Sts. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  Board  of  Trade  Building,  Third  and  Main  Streets. 

Lynchburg,  Va.,  Lynchburg  National  Bank  Building,  914  Main  St. 

Macon,  Ga.,  Fourth  National  Bank  Building. 

Memphis,  Tenn.,  40  South  Main  Street. 

Menominee,  Mich.,  First  National  Bank  Building,  Main  Street  and 
Ogden  Ave. 

Meridian,  Miss.,  Sixth  Street  and  Twenty-second  Avenue. 

Milwaukee,  Wis.,  Wells  Building,  Wisconsin  and  Milwaukee  Sts. 

Minneapolis,  Minn.,  Commercial  Bldg.,  Third  St.  and  First  Ave.  N. 

Mobile,  Ala.,  12-14  St.  Joseph  Street. 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  First  National  Bank  Building,  Commerce  and 
Court  Square. 

Muskogee,  Okla.,  Second  and  West  Okmulgee  Streets. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  304yo  Third  Avenue  N. 

Newark,  N.  J.,  665-671  Broad  Street. 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  129  Church  Street. 

New  Orleans,  La.,  Camp  and  Common  Streets. 

Norfolk,  Va.,  113  East  Plume  Street. 

Oakland,  Cal.,  Fourteenth  Street  and  Broadway. 

Oklahoma,    Okla.,   American   National   Bank   Building,    Main    and 
Robinson  Streets. 

Omaha,  Neb.,  Fourteenth  and  Farnam  Streets. 

Ottumwa,  Iowa,  209-211  East  Second  Street. 


AND    HIS    WORK  423 

Paducah,   Ky.,  City   National  Bank   Building,   Fourth   Street  and 

Broadway. 
Paterson,  N.  J.,  152  Market  Street. 
Pensacola,    Fla.,    American    National    Bank    Building,    226    South 

Palafox  Street. 
Peoria,  111.,  301-307  South  Adams  Street. 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Lincoln  Building,  Broad  Street  and  South  Penn 

Square. 
Phoenix,  Ariz.,  National  Bank  of  Arizona  Building. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  Liberty  Avenue  and  Sandusky  Street. 
Portland,  Me.,  31 V-  Exchange  Street. 
Portland,   Ore.,  211-222  Morgan   Building,  Washington   Street   and 

Broadway. 
Providence,  R.  I.,  17  Exchange  Street. 
Pueblo,  Colo.,  118  Pope  Block,  Main  and  Fourth  Streets. 
Quincy,  111.,  529  Hampshire  Street. 
Reading,  Pa.,  Farmers'  National  Bank  Building. 
Richmond,  Va.,  Ninth  and  Main  Streets. 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Rooms  502-506  Insurance  Building. 
Rockford,  111.,  William  Brown  Building. 

Sacramento,  Cal.,  Eighth  and  K  Streets. 

Saginaw,  Mich.,  208-209  Eddy  Building. 

St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  Corby-Forsee  Building. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  510  Locust  Street. 

St.  Paul,  Minn.,  Fourth  and  Wabasha  Streets. 

Salt  Lake,  Utah,  Tribune  Building,  149  South  Main  Street. 

San  Antonio,  Tex.,  130  West  Commerce  Street. 

San  Diego,  Cal.,  Sixth  and  E  Streets. 

San  Francisco,  Cal.,  201  Sansome  Street. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  Germania  Bank  Building,  Bull  and  Congress  Sts. 

Scranton,  Pa.,  Connell  Building,  131  North  Washington  Avenue. 

Seattle,  Wash.,  1201-1206  Alaska  Building. 

Sedalia,  Mo.,  Citizens'  National  Bank  B!dg.,  Main  and  Ohio  Sts. 

Selma,  Ala.,  Gillman  Building,  Broad  Street,  between  Water  and 

Alabama  Streets. 
Sherman,  Tex.,  202  North  Travis  Street. 
Shreveport,  La.,  First  National  Bank  Building. 
Sioux  City,  Iowa,  Metropolitan  Block,  Fourth  and  Jackson  Streets. 
Spokane,  Wash.,  Hutton  Bldg.,  Washington  St.  and  Sprague  Ave. 
Springfield,   Mass.,   Stearns   Building,  293  Bridge  Street. 
Springfield,  Mo.,  over  Union  National  Bank,  Public  Square. 
Springfield,  O.,  Fairbanks  Building,  Main  St.  and  Fountain  Ave. 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  Wieting  Block,  South  Sahna  and  Water  Streets. 

Tacoma,  Wash.,  National  Realty  Building. 

Tampa,  Fla.,  SOlVa  Franklin  Street. 

Terre  Houte,  Ind..  Room  310  Terre  Haute  Trust  Building. 

Toledo,  O.,  Chamber  of  Commerce  Building,  244  Summit  Street. 

Topeka,  Kan.,  New  England  Building,  S.  W.  cor.  Fifth  Street  and 

Kansas  Avenue. 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  Forst-Ritchy  Building. 

Troy,  N.  Y.,  Cannon  Place,  Broadway  and  Second  Street. 
Tulsa.,  Okla.,  330  and  331  Mavo  Building. 
Utica,  N.  Y.,  108-112  Genesee  Street. 
Waco,  Tex.,  Rooms  417,  423  and  425  Peerless  Building. 


424  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Washington,  D.  C,  613  Fifteenth  Street,  N.  W. 

Waterloo,  Iowa,  Commercial  Bank  Building. 

Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  National  Exchange  Bank  Building,  Twelfth  and 

Main  Streets. 
Wichita,  Kan.,  114-118  South  Main  Street. 
Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  West  Market  and  South  Franklin  Streets. 
Williamsport,  Pa.,  120  West  Fourth  Street. 
Wilmington,  Del.,  Ninth  and  Market  Streets. 
Wilmington,  N.  C.,   Front  and  Markets  Streets. 
Winston-Salem,    N.    C,    Masonic    Temple    Building,    Fourth    and 

Trade  Streets. 
Worcester,  Mass.,  18  Franklin  Street. 

Youngstown,  O.,  Mahoning  Bank  Building,  Pulic  Square. 
Zanesviile,  O.,  Masonic  Temple,  North  Fourth  Street. 

CANADA. 
Calgary,  Alberta,  705  Second  Street,  West. 
Edmonton,  Alberta,  916  McLeod   Building,   southwest  corner   Mc- 

Dougall  and  Rice  Streets. 
HaHfax,  N.  S.,  Royal  Bank  Building,  George  and  HoUis  Streets. 
Hamilton,  Ont.,  11  Hughson  Street,  South. 
Lethbridge,  Alberta,  306  Seventh  Street,  South. 
London,  Ont.,  corner  Richmond  and  King  Streets. 
Montreal,  Que.,  Board  of  Trade  Building,  St.  Sacrament  Street. 
Moose  Jaw,  Sask.,  407  Walter  Scott  Building,  12  High  Street,  East. 
Ottawa,  Ont.,  Booth  Building,  Sparks  Street. 
Quebec,  Que.,  126  St.  Peter  Street. 
Regina,  Sask.,  1872  Scrath  Street. 
St.  John,  N.  B.,  65  Prince  William  Street. 
Saskatoon,  Sask.,  116  Third  Avenue,  South. 
Toronto,  Ont.,  King,  Yonge  and  MeHnda  Streets. 
Vancouver,  B.  C,  908-915  Standard  Bank  Building. 
Victoria,  B.  C,  408  Pemberton  Building. 
Winnipeg,  Manitoba,  Keewayden  Building,  138  Portage  Ave.,  E. 

THE    LEADING   TRADE    AGENCIES    OF   THE    UNITED 
STATES. 

Automobiles. 

Luces  Credit  Service  Corporation,  220  Broadway,  New  York  City. 

Books  ajid  Stationery. 
The  Stationers  and   Pubhshers'   Board  of   Trade,  99   Nassau   St., 

New  York  City. 
Graphic  Arts  Board  of  Trade,  291  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
Typo  Mercantile  Agency,  373  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York  City. 

Cloaks,  Suits,  Skirts. 
Cloak,  Suit  and  Skirt  Manufacturers'  Association,  220  Fifth  Ave., 
New  York  City. 

Clothing. 
Clothiers'  Association  of  New  York,  13  Astor  PI.,  New  York  City. 
American    Clothing    Manufacturers'    Association,    742    Broadway, 
New  York  City. 

Coal. 
Coal  Credit  Bureau,  29  Broadway,  New  York  City. 


AND    HIS    WORK  425 

Confectionery  and  Kindred  Lines. 

Confectioners'  Mercantile  Agency,  309  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
(Advertises     offices     in     Philadelphia,     Baltimore, 
Boston    and    Chicago.     Publishes    the    Credit    Guide 
Reference    Book    for    the    confectionery    and    kindred 
lines) . 

Credit  Insurance  Collections. 

American  Credit  Indemnity  Co.,  91  West  St.,  New  York  City. 
Credit  Insurance  Adjustment  Co.,  55  John  St.,  New  York  City. 

Crockery,  Glass,  Lamps,  Gas  and  Electric  Fixtures,  House  Fur- 
nishings, Toys, 

Crockery  Board  of  Trade,  126  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City. 
House  Furnishing  Board  of  Trade,  East  Liverpool,  Ohio. 

Drugs,  Chemicals,  Etc. 
Drug,    Chemical    and    Allied    Trades    Protective    Association,    116 
Nassau  St.,  New  York  City. 

Dry  Goods. 

Wood's  Drv  Goods  Commercial  Agencj',  320  Broadway,  New  York 
City. 

Electric  Goods. 

Vose  &  Page,  Marquette  Building,  Chicago,  111. 

Florists'  Supplies. 
National  Florists'  Board  of  Trade,  56  Pine  St.,  New  York  City. 

Fruit,  Produce,  Groceries. 
Produce  Reporter  Co.,  212  W.  Washington  St.,  Chicago  111.;  S.  R. 
Brown,  counsel. 

Furniture. 
Lyon  Furniture  Mercantile  Agency,  258  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
(Offices  in  New  York,   Boston,   Philadelphia,  Cin- 
cinnati,   Chicago,    St.    Louis,    Grand    Rapids,    James- 
town, N.  Y.,  and  High  Point,  N.  C). 
The  Central  Bureau,  Monadnock  Building,  Chicago,  111, 

Fur. 

Richard  S.  Otto,  Actuarv  the  Fur  Merchants'  Credit  Association 
of  the  City  of  New  York.  218  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City. 

The  Associated  Fur  Manufacturers,  Inc.,  303  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York 
City. 

Fur  Dressers  and  Dyers'  Association,  Inc.,  43  West  Twenty-seventh 
St.,  New  York  City. 

Groceries  and  Bakeries. 

Wholesale  Grocers  and  Bakers'  Association,  1451  Broadway,  New 
York  City. 

Hardware. 

Hardware  Board  of  Trade,  Ltd.,  291  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
Iron  and  Steel  Board  of  Trade,  233  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
Material  Men's  Mercantile  Association,  41   Park  Row,  New  York 
City. 


426  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

Consolidated  Building  Credit  Association,  507  Fifth  Ave.,  New 
York  City. 

Credit  Association  of  Building  Trades  of  New  York,  120  Broad- 
way, New  York  City. 

Insurance  Premium  Collections. 

James  F.  O'Neil,  1  Liberty  St.,  New  York  City. 

Jewelry. 
National  Jewelers'   Board  of  Trade,    15  Maiden   Lane,   New  York 
City. 

(Does  not  handle  collections). 
Thomas  Fleming  Walsh,  99  Nassau  St.,  New  York  City. 

(Offices  also  in  Chicago). 
Frank  M.  Hickok,  5  S.  Wabash  Ave..  Chicago,  111. 
Manufacturing  Jewelers'  Board  of  Trade,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Lace  and  Embroidery. 

Lace  and  Embroidery  Association,  949  Broadway,  New  York  City. 

Lumber. 
Lumbermen's   Credit  Association,   608   S.   Dearborn   St.,   Chicago; 

80  Maiden  Lane,  New  York  City. 
National   Wholesale    Lumber   Dealers'    Protective   Association,   66 

Broadway,  New  York  City. 

Men's  Furnishings. 

Wholesale  Men's  Furnishings  Association,  200  Fifth  Ave.,  New 
York  City. 

Millinery. 
Eastern  MiUinery  Association,  Williams,  Folsom  &  Strouse,  coun- 
sel, 51  John  St.,  New  York  City. 

(Note. — The    Association    itself    does    not    handle 
collections.     The  business  falls  to  its  counsel). 

Paints,  Oils  and  Varnish. 

Paint,  Oil  and  Varnish  Credit  Association,  10  S.  La  Salle  St.,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

Saddlery. 

Wholesale  Saddlery  Association  of  the  United  States,  30  N.  La 
Salle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Sash,  Doors,  Blinds  and  Millwork. 

National  Sash  and  Door  Credit  Association,  1210  Steger  Building, 
Chicago,  111. 

Shoes  and  Leather. 
The  Shoe  and  Leather  Mercantile  Agency,  183  Essex  St.,  Boston, 
Mass. 

(Offices  at  Boston,   New  York,   Philadelphia  and 
Chicago). 

Surgical  and  Dental  Supplies. 

Frederick  B.  Hovey,  69  W.  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

OU. 
Oil  Trades  Credit  Bureau,  299  Broadway,  New  York  City. 


AND    HIS    WORK  427 

Leaf  Tobacco. 

Leaf  Tobacco  Board  of  Trade,  141  Maiden  Lane,  New  York  City. 

Undertaking  Supplies. 
The  Central  Bureau,  Monadnock  Building,  Chicago,  111. 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  COMMERCIAL  LAW  LEAGUE  OF 
AMERICA 

Headquarters :  108  So.  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago. 

President:  W.  H.  H.  PIATT Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Vice-President:  J.  C.  LAMOTHE Montreal,  Que. 

Treasurer:  W.  O.  HART New  Orleans,  La. 

Record'g  Secretary:  J.  P.  WRIGHT Baltimore.  Md. 

Secretary  of  the  League:  WM.  C.  SPRAGUE 

108  So.  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 
One  Year 

W.  M.  Crook,  Crook,  Lord,  Lawhon  &  Ney Beaumont,  Tex. 

John   B.  Eflwards,  Abbott  &   Edwards St.  Louis 

E.  G.  McGilton,  McGilton,  Gaines  &  Smith Omaha 

Two  Years 

Ed-vard  F.  Flynn,  Flynn  &  Traynor Devils  Lake.  N.  D. 

Marshall   D.    Wilber,   Wilber   Mercantile    Agency Chicago 

E.  E.  Donnelly Bloomington,  111. 

Three  Years 

Thad.  M.  Talcott,  Jr South  Bend,  Ind. 

Geo.  A.  Bacon Springfield,  Mass. 

OFFICES  OF  THE  CREDIT  CLEARING  HOUSE 

New  York  City.  Milwaukee,    Wisconsin. 

Chicago,    Illinois.  Pittsburgh,   Pennsylvania. 

Boston,  Mass.  *Nashville,  Tennessee. 
Philadelphia,     Pennsylvania.  ^Portland,   Maine. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri.  *Buffalo,  New  York. 

Louisville,   Kentucky.  Dallas,  Texas. 

Cincinnati,    Ohio.  Kansas  City.  Missouri. 

Detroit,    Michigan.  Omaha,   Nebraska. 

St.  Paul,  Minnesota.  *Knoxville,   Tennessee. 

Baltimore,  Maryland.  Rochester,  New  York. 

New  Orleans,  Louisiana.  Des    Moines,    Iowa. 

Cleveland,    Ohio.  San   Francisco,  California. 
Atlanta,  Georgia. 

The  officers  of  this  Company  are  so  well  known  in  their  re- 
spective cities  that  street  addresses  are  not  necessary.  Those 
starred  cities  are  not  collection  offices. 

The  central  office  of  the  Clearing  House  is  at  440  Fourth 
Avenue,   New   York   City. 


438  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

LAW   LISTS   AND   LEGAL   DIRECTORIES    ROUGHLY 
CLASSIFIED  AS  TO  PRODUCING  ABILITY. 

Class  1. 

Law  Lists  having  back  of  them  an  organization  for  obtaining 
business  for  their  representatives  and  entitled  to  serious  consid- 
eration: 
American   Lawyers  Quarterly, 

American   Lawyers   Co.,    Engineers,    Bldg.,   Cleveland,    Ohio. 
Bonded  Attorney, 

Association   of   Bonded  Attorneys,   1st   National   Bank   Bldg., 

Milwaukee,    Wis. 
Clearing  House  Quarterly, 

The   Attorneys   National   Clearing    House    Co.,    Andrus    Bldg., 

Minneapolis,    Minn. 
C.  R.  C.  Law  List, 

C.  R.  C.  Law  List  Co.,  Ill  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Guaranteed  Attorneys   List, 

United  States  Fidelity   &   Guaranty  Co., 

Calvert  and   German   Sts.,   Baltimore,  Md. 
Martindale   Guide    (Blue   Book), 

Martindale   Mercantile   Agency,   Woolworth    Bldg., 

New   York,   N.  Y. 
Mercantile  Adjuster, 

Mercantile   Adjuster   Publishing,   Co.,   Mercantile    Bldg., 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 
National  List, 

The  National  List,  Inc.,  2  Albany  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Wilber   Directory  of  Attorneys   and   Banks, 

Wilber  Mercantile  Agency,   155  N.  Clark  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Class  2. 

Law  List  making  an  honest  effort  to  obtain  business  for  their 
representatives   and    successful   to   a   degree    fairly    commensurate 
with  their  charges,  which  are  less  than  those  in  Class  1. 
A-A  Directory  of  Attorneys  and  Banks, 

The    American    Adjusters    Directory    Co.,    1st    National    Bank 

Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
American  Law  List, 

American  Law  List  Publishing  Co.,  2  W.  13th  St., 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
Associated  Trades  Law  List, 

Commercial  System  Co.,  Inc.,  50  Broad  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Campbell's  List, 

H.   Campbell  Co.,    140  Nassau  St.,  New  York,   N.  Y. 
Columbia  Directory  of  Lawyers  and  Banks, 

The  Columbia  Directory  Co.,  Inc.,  320  Broadway, 

New   York,  N.  Y. 
Credit  Guide  &   Claim  Adjuster. 

The  Credit  Association,  309  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Eaton's  List  of  Lawyers, 

A.   L.   Eaton  Co.,  Inc.,  Woolworth  Bldg.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Haythe  Guide, 

Haythe   Mercantile   Agency,   Inc.,   39   Liberty   St. 

New  York,  N.  Y. 


AND    HIS   WORK  430 

Lane's  Blue  Book, 

Lane   Publishing  Co.,  Sentinel   Bldg.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
Lawyers'  List,  The 

Hubert   R.   Brown,   70   Fifth  Ave.,   New  York,   N.  Y. 
Merchants'  Bank  Directory  and  List  of  Guaranteed  Attorneys, 

Central  Guarantee  Co.,  200  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Produce  Reporter  Co., 

212  W.  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
Rand-McNally  List  of  Attorneys-at-Law, 

Rand-McNally  &   Co.,  538  So.  Clark  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
United  Agency  Attorney   &    Bank  Register, 

United   Agency,    1018  So.   Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago,   111. 
United  Lawyers'  Quarterly, 

City  Hall  Square  Building,  Chicago. 
Wright-Holmes  List  of  Lawyers, 

Wright-Holmes  Corporation,  258  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Class  3. 

Lists    issued    as    advertising   mediums    only,    and    making    no 
appreciable  effort  to  obtain  business  for  their  representatives  and 
depending   mainly   on  the   circulation   of  their  books  for  results. 
Their  charges  are  generally  reasonable. 
American   Legal  News, 

American   Legal   News  Corporation,   Detroit,   Mich. 
Hubbell's    Legal   Directory, 

The  Hubbell  Publishing  Co.,  Equitable  Bldg.,  New  York,  N.Y. 
Russell  Law   List, 

Eugene  C.  Worden,  Manager,  165  Broadway,  New  York,  N.Y. 
Sharp  &  Alleman  Co.'s  Lawyers  &   Bankers'  Directory, 

Sharp  &  Alleman  Co.,  9th  and  Chestnut  Sts., 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Class  4. 

Lists  that  are  more  or  less  of  an  advertising  venture. 
American   Bank  Attorneys, 

The  American  Bank  Attorneys,  835  Old  South  Bldg., 

Boston,  Mass. 
American   Bank    Reporter  and  Attorney   List, 

Steurer  Publishing  Co.,  5  Beckman  St.,  New  York  City. 
Attorneys  &  Agencies  Association  Legal  Directory  of  Guaranteed 
Attorneys, 

Attorneys  and  Agencies  Association,  60  Wall  St., 

New  York  City. 
Baggott  &    Rvall  Directory, 

Ryall   Legal   Directory  Co.,  225   5th   Ave.,   New  York   City. 
Bankers'  Directory, 

Bankers  Publishing  Co.,    (Bradford,  Rhodes  &   Co.), 

253   Broadway,  New  York. 
Bankers'   Register  &    Special  List  of  Selected  Lawyers, 

(Blue   Book)      The   Credit  Co.,   Pontiac  Bldg.,  Chicago. 
Canada  Bonded  Attorney   &   Legal   Directory, 

Canada   Bonded   Attorney    &    Legal   Directory,   Ltd., 

36  Toronto  St.,  Toronto,' Canada. 
Canadian  Law  List, 

Canadian  Legal  PubHshing  Co.,  24  Adelaide  St.,  E., 

Toronto,  Canada. 


430  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Commercial   Adjuster  Law   List, 

The  Commercial  Adjuster  Co.,  Williamson  Bldg., 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Credit  &   Audit  Company  of  America,  Law  List, 
(Special   Service    Bulletin). 

The  Credit  &  Audit  Co.  of  America,  P.  O.  Box  1446, 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
Davies  Legal  Directory, 

The  Davies  Bar  &   Collection  Association, 

Blymyer  Bldg.,   Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Graft's   Legal   Directory, 

J.  A.  Graft  &  Co.,  Johnston  Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Kime's  International  Law  Directory, 

88-90  Chancery  Lane,  W.  C.  London. 
Lovell's,  John,  Legal  Compendium 

Lovell  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  320  St.  Nicholas  St.,  Montreal,  Canada. 
Martindale's  American  Law  Directory, 

J.    B.    Martindale,    Woolworth    Bldg.,   New   York   City,   N.   Y. 
McKillop,    Walker    &    Co.,    Quarterly    Register, 

McKillop,  Walker   &   Co.,  302  Broadway,  New  York  City. 
National  Credit  Corporation  Bank  Directory  and  Selected  List  of 
Attorneys, 

The  National  Credit  Corporation,  Title  &  Trust  Bldg., 

Chicago,  111. 
North  American   Legal   Directory  and  Bank   List, 

North  American   Mercantile  Agency  Co.,   140  Nassau  St., 

New  York,  N.  Y. 
Reference   Register, 

L.  Cooper-Mordant,   Melbourne,  Australia. 
Regenhardt's  International  Guide, 

Regenhardt's  Agency,   BerHn,   Germany. 
Snow-Church   Legal   &    Banking  Year  Book, 

Snow-Church  Directory  Co.,  206  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Typo  Credit  Book, 

Typo  Mercantile  Co.,  160  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Walters  Legal  Directory, 

Chas.  E.  Walters  &   Co.,  Omaha  National  Bank.  Bldg. 

Omaha,   Nebr. 

Glass  5. 

PubHcations  hardly  reaching  the  dignity  of  a  List  proposition 
and  yet  able  to  exist  as  valuable  publications  by  reason  of  lit- 
erary or  other  features. 
Bankers    Encyclopaedia, 

Bankers  Encyclopaedia  Co.,  20  Nassau,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Chicago    Daily    Law    Bulletin, 

Chicago  Daily  Law  Bulletin,  Chicago. 
Chicago  Law  Directory, 

Gritman  &  Sullivan,  172  No.  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago. 
Directory  of  Directors, 

The 'Bankers  Service  Co.,  88  Broad  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Fisher's  Probate  Law  Directory, 

Fisher's  Probate  Law  Directory  Co.,  415  Locust  St.,  St.  Louis. 


AND    HIS    WORK  431 

Insurance  Year  Book, 

The  Spectator  Co.,  135  William  St.,  New  York. 
International   Cable   Register  of   the   World, 

International  Cable  Directory  Co.,  59  Pearl  St., 

New   York,   N.  Y. 
Jackson's  Real  Estate  Directory, 

Jay  M.  Jackson  Directory  &  Publishing  Co.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Law  Publishers  Legal  Directory, 

Law  Publishers  Directory  Ass'n.,  Central  Bldg.,  Seattle,  Wash. 
Lawyers   Diary, 

National  Surety  Co.,   115  Broadway,  New  York. 
Manufacturers   and    Wholesalers   Association    Directory, 

Manufacturers   &   Wholesalers  Ass'n,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 
Probate   Register, 

Probate  Agency,  68  Post  St.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Trow's  N.  Y.  City  Directory, 

R.  L.  Polk  &  Co.,  87  Third  Ave.,  New  Yorok. 
Class  6. 

Directories  that  I  prefer  not  to  classify. 
Commercial   Lawj^ers  Quarterly, 

Commercial  Lawyers'  Association,  St.  Louis. 
Dalton's   Special  Commercial   Attorneys  Interchange   Directory, 

The  Mercantile  Adjustment  Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
Empire  Legal  Directory, 

Empire  Law  List  Publ.  Co.,  New  York. 
Lawyers    and   Bankers   Quarterly, 

The  Legal  Directory  Publishing  Co.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Palmer's   Lawyers   Directory, 

Dicker  &   Palmer  Publ.  Co.,  141  W.  36th  St.,  New  York. 
The  Thomas  List, 

Thomas  Publ.  Co.,  Howard  &   Lafayette  Sts.,  New  York. 

THE    PRINCIPAL    FORWARDERS    OF    THE    UNITED 
STATES. 

The  following  names  cover  the  principal  forwarders  of  com- 
mercial business  in  the  large  business  centers  when  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  other  lists  published  in  these  pages.  The  names 
given  represent  from  75  to  90  per  cent  of  all  the  business  sent 
from  the  cities  listed: 

Akron,  Ohio. 
ATTORNEYS:     Birch,   Adams    &    Ream;    Otis,    Beery    &    Otis; 
Allen,    Waters,    Young    &    Andress;    Slabaugh,    Seiberling    & 
Hube ;   Musser,  Kimber  &   Huffman ;   Rockwell  &  Grant. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
ATTORNEYS:     George  J.  Hatt  II,  Mills  &  Mills,  Lester  T.  Hub- 
bard, Charles  R.  Watson    (retail  accounts),  George   H.  Zwick 
(retail  accounts). 

Atlanta,  Ga. 
ATTORNEYS:  Anderson  &  Slate,  Brandon  &  Hynds,  Chan- 
dlers, Thomson  &  Hirsch,  Dodd  &  Dodd,  Walter  S.  Dillon, 
Green,  Tilson  &  McKinney,  Little,  Powell  &  Goldstein,  May- 
son  &  Johnson,  Napier,  Wright  &  Wood,  Smith,  Hammond 
Cc  Smith. 
AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House. 


482  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Altoona,  Pa. 

ATTORNEYS:  H.  F.  Walters,  Isaiah  Scheiline,  Dively  & 
Hemphill,  W.  Frank  Vaughn. 

Baltimore,  Md. 

ATTORNEYS:  Musgrave,  BowHng  &  Hall,  Johnson,  Millikin  & 
Wright,  Carmody  &  Rome,  S.  H.  Lauchheimer,  Baldwin  & 
Sappington,  W.  L.  Swink. 

AGENCIES:  United  Merchants  of  Baltimore,  Shriver,  Bartlett 
&  Co.,  Snow-Church  &  Co.,  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Birmingham,  Ala. 

ATTORNEYS:  Ritter  &  Wynn,  Thompson,  Greene  &  Thomp- 
son, London,  Yancey  &  Brower,  Coleman  &  Coleman,  Robert 
L.  Smith,  Aldridge  &  Spain,  J.  H.  Ward,  Beddow  &  Oberdor- 
fer,  Isadore  Shapiro,  Bonner  &  MuUins. 

AGENCIES:     Jones  Agency,  Protective  Credit  Association. 

Boston,  Mass. 

ATTORNEYS.  Jacobs  &  Jacobs,  Horbht  &  Wasserman,  Phipps, 
Drugin  &  Cook,  J.  J.  Silverman,  A.  H.  Read,  Spaulding  & 
Lewis,  Swift,  Friedman  &  Atherton,  Spaulding,  Baldwin  & 
Shaw,  Smith  &  Rogers,  Lloyd  Makepeace,  Schwartz  &  Dear- 
born. 

AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House,  Shoe  and  Leather  Mercan- 
tile Agency,  Wilber  Mercantile  Agency,  Creditors'  National 
Clearing  House,  Lyon  Furniture  Mercantile  Agency,  A.  A. 
Bishop,  N.  E.  Law  and  Adjustment  Company,  Credit  Men's 
Association. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

ATTORNEYS:  Gibbons  &  Pottle,  Saferston  &  McNaughton, 
Horton  &  Grandison,  R.  L.  Ball,  A.  N.  McNabb,  J.  O.  Bissell, 
Lawrence  &  Lathrop,  Martin  Clark,  Clinton  De  Groat. 

AGENCIES:  Cadwallader  Collection  Company,  The  Claim  Ad- 
juster, H.  O.  Cobb,  Snow-Church  Co. 

Cajnden,  N.  J. 

ATTORNEYS:     Wilson  &  Carr,  Bleakley  &  Stockwell,  Albert  S. 

Woodruff,  Joseph  Beck  Tyler,  Harris  &    Harris,  Ott  &   Carr, 

Harry  Teitleman. 

Canton,  Ohio. 
ATTORNEYS:     Fisher   &   McCuskey,  Clark   &   Clark,   Pomerene, 

Anibler  &  Pomerene,  Herbruck  &  Black,  McCulloch  &  Curtis. 

Chicago,  m. 

ATTORNEYS:  Lewis,  Fox  &  Adelsdorf,  Harris  Trust  Bldg.; 
Alden,  Latham  &  Young,  Corn  Exchange  Bank  Bldg.;  Allen 
&  Ward,  105  W.  Monroe  St.;  Baker  &  Holder,  First  National 
Bank  Bldg.;  Fred  A.  Bangs,  First  National  Bank  Bldg.;  Will 
J.  Bell,  Blum,  Wolfsohn  &  Blum,  Westminstr  Bldg.;  Booz  & 
Stoll,  38  S.  Dearborn  St.;  James  J.  Breckenridge,  5  N.  LaSalle 
St.;  Ben  N.  Breding,  Conway  Bldg.;  Hiner,  Bunch  &  Lati- 
mer, Harris  Trust  Bldg.;  Osborne,  Cloud  &  Stephens,  West- 
minster Bldg.;  C.  C.  Collins,  108  S.  LaSalle  St.;  Huff  &  Cook, 
30  N.  LaSalle  St.;   Stephen  A.  Cross,  Culver.  Andrews,  King 


AND    HIS    WORK  433 

&  Cook,  New  York  Life  Bldg. ;  Charles  Daniels,  Marquette 
Bldg.;  Dulsky  &  Dulsky,  29  S.  LaSalle  St.;  Eastman,  White 
&  Hawxhurst,  108  S.  LaSalle  St.;  Edward  L.  England,  Otis 
Bldg.;  Max  J.  Farber,  First  National  Bank  Bldg.;  Felsenthal 
&  Wilson,  69  W.  Washington,  St.;  Cratty  Bros.  &  Flatau, 
City  Hall  Square  Bldg. ;  Musgrave,  Oppenheim  &  Lee,  First 
National  Bank  Bldg.;  Heldman  &  Graff,  108  S.  LaSalle  St.; 
Nathan  haffenberg,  29  S.  LaSalle  St.;  Haight,  Brown  & 
Haight,  The  Rookery;  William  Helfand,  105  W.  Monroe  St.; 
Frank  M.  Hickok,  5  S.  Wabash  Ave.;  Fred  B.  Hovey,  Chi- 
cago Title  &  Trust  Bldg.;  Maddock  &  Jaffre,  39  S.  LaSalle 
St.;  Adolph  M.  Schwarz,  First  National  Bank  Bldg.;  Howe, 
Fordham  &  Kreamer,  Tribune  Bldg. ;  Rosenthal,  Kurz  & 
Houlihan,  Continental  &  Commercial  Bank  Bldg.;  Har- 
ry C.  Levinson,  29  S.  LaSalle  St. ;  Lipson  &  Levy,  Fort 
Dearborn  Bldg.;  Helmer,  Moulton,  Whitman  &  Whitman,  110 
S.  Dearorn  St.;  Vose  &  Page,  Marquette  Bldg.;  Shepard,  Mc- 
Cormick,  Thomason,  Kirkland  &  Patterson,  Tribune  Bldg.; 
Teller,  Hart  &  Pennish,  8  S.  Dearborn  St.;  Gregory,  Pop- 
penhusen  &  McNabb,  69  W.  Washington  St. ;  J.  Walter  Stead, 
Borland  Bldg.;  Daniel  S.  Wentworth,  110  S.  Dearborn  St.; 
FrankUn  N.  Wood,  First  National  Bank  Bldg.;  Ziska  &  Sheri- 
dan, 105  W.  Monroe  St. 

AGENCIES:  Moulding  &  Picture  Frame  Manufacturers'  Credit 
Bureau,  29  S.  LaSalle  St. ;  Produce  Reporter  Co.,  212  W.  Wash- 
ington St.;  Burns  &  Burns,  30  N.  LaSalle  St.;  Francis  A. 
Campbell,  2550  Michigan  Ave. ;  Meacham  Mercantile  Agency, 
1204  E.  47th  St.;  The  Coykendall  Mercantile  Agency,  25  E. 
Washington  St.;  United  Agency,  1018  S.  Wabash  Ave.;  Mc- 
Ilvaine  Adjustment  Co.,  Harris  Trust  Bldg.;  Snow  Church 
Co.  of  Chicago,  39  S.  LaSalle  St.;  Federal  Adjustment  Co., 
Otis  Bldg.;  Wholesalers'  Adjustment  Bureau,  29  S.  LaSalle 
St.;  Lyon  Furniture  Agency,  910  S.  Michigan  Ave.;  Graham 
Adjustment  Bureau,  Associated  Credit  &  Collection  Agency, 
537  S.  Dearborn  St.;  Credit  Insurance  Adjustment  Co.,  134 
S.  LaSalle  St.;  Adjustment  Company  of  America,  38  S.  Dear- 
born St.;  Wholesale  Saddlery  Association  of  U.  S.,  30  N.  La- 
Salle St.;  Credit  Clearing  House,  326  W.  Madison  St.;  Martin- 
dale  Mercantile  Agency,  Fisher  Bldg.;  Foreign  Law  &  Col- 
lection Agency,  29  S.  LaSalle  St.;  Edward  Solomon,  Inc.,  First 
National  Bank  Bldg. ;  Shoe  &  Leather  Mercantile  Agency, 
19  S.  Wells  St.;  Associated  Credit  and  Collection  Agencies, 
537  S.  Dearborn  St. ;  Merchants  &  Tradesmen's  Commercial 
Agency,  Association  Bldg. ;  Edward  Waterhouse  &  Co.,  326 
W.  Madison  St.;  Wilber  Mercantile  Agency,  155  N.  Clark  St.; 
Wilson  &  Buckley,  Adjustment  Co.,  Straus  Bldg.;  R.  G.  Dun 
&  Co.,  Adjustment  Bureau  of  Chicago  Association  of  Credit 
Men. 

Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

ATTORNEYS:  Moore  &  Darwin,  Sidney  B.  Wright,  C.  A. 
Noone,  Allison,  Lvnch  &  Phillips,  C.  E.  Carpenter,  Finley, 
Campbell  &  Coffey. 

AGENCIES:  The  Adjustment  Bureau  of  the  Chattanooga  Asso- 
ciation of  Credit  Men. 


434  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

ATTORNEYS;  Edward  H.  Brink,  Burch,  Peters  &  Connolly, 
Cobb,  Howard  &  Bailey,,  Herbert  L.  Jackson,  Johnson  & 
Levy,  Matthews  &  Matthews,  John  L.  Ritchie,  Sibbald  & 
Woeste,  Wolf  &  Bailey. 

AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House,  W.  F.  Landwehr's  Law  and 
Collection  Agency,  National  Collection  Agency,  Oliver  & 
Kent,  Powers'  Adjustment  Co.,  L.  Roescher  Collecting  Co. 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

ATTORNEYS:  White,  Johnson,  Cannon  &  Neff,  Weed,  Miller 
&  Rothenbery,  Bardwell  &  Hagenbach,  L.  J.  Grossman, 
Stearns,  Chamberlain  &  Royan,  Thomsen,  Hine  &  Flory. 

AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House,  National  Adjustment  Co. 
Coliunbus,  Ohio. 

ATTORNEYS:  Watson,  Stauffer,  Davis  &  Gearhart;  Morton, 
Irvin,  Turner  &  Blanhard;  Hedges,  Hoover  &  Tingley;  Gam- 
ble &  Gamble,  Frank  M.  Raymond. 

AGENCIES:  Columbus  Commercial  Exchange,  United  Adjust- 
ment Co.,  O.  C.  Ingalls. 

Dallas,  Texas. 

ATTORNEYS:  Davis,  Johnson,  Golden  &  Handley.  Saner,  Saner 
&  Turner;  Burgess,  Burgess,  Chrestman  &  Brundidge;  Seay 
&  Seay,  Leake  &  Henry. 

AGENCIES:  Southwestern  Mercantile  Agency,  R.  E.  Bramlett 
&  Co.,  T.  E.  Blanchard  &  Co.,  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Davenport,  Iowa. 

ATTORNEYS:  Murphy  &  Sampson,  Isaac  Petersburger,  Cook  & 
Balluff,  Ely  &  Bush,  Carroll  Bros.,  Ficke  &  Ficke,  Chas.  B. 
Kaufman,  Alfred  C.  Mueller,  Hugh  Webster. 

AGENCIES:     National  Adjustment  Co. 

Dayton,  Ohio. 

ATTORNEYS:  Burkhart,  Heald  &  Pickrel,  Lenz,  Sigler  &  Den- 
Hnger,  R.  O.  Bauman,  Turner  &  Turner,  James  &  Coolidge, 
Aikman  &  Oldham,  Matthews  &  Matthews,  Focke  & 
SchaeflFer. 

Denver,  Colo. 

ATTORNEYS:  Dana  &  Blount,  Rogers,  Ellis  &  Johnson,  Peters 
&  Barker,  Zimmerhackle  &  Avery,  Everett  Owens,  Preston 
H.  Barker,  Garwood  &  Garwood,  John  Hipp,  Hindrey,  Fried- 
man &   Brewster,  Andrus  «&  Andrus. 

AGENCIES:  Colorado  Credit  Service  Adjustment  and  Collection 
Co,  Capital  Collection  Co.,  Allards  Collection  Service,  Ameri- 
can Medical  and  Dental  Association,  American  Credit  Rating 
Co.,  City  Service  Co.,  Creditmen's  Adjustment  Co.,  Credit  Ad- 
justment Co.,  Denver  Creditors'  Service,  S.  T.  Hawthorne 
Adjustment  Co.,  C.  J.  Houston  &  Co.,  Kraus-Frost  Mercantile 
Agency,  Merchants'  Collection  Agency,  T.  D.  Ross  &  Co., 
Stiles  Collection  Co. 

Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

ATTORNEYS:  Charles  F.  Maxwell,  Coffin  &  Rippey,  A.  W. 
Brett,  Domback,  Granger  &  Ingleman,  Wessells  &  Wessells, 
D.  J.  Cavanaugh,  Charles  Snyder. 


AND    HIS    WORK  435 

Detroit,  Mich. 

ATTORNEYS:  Clark,  Emmons,  Bryant  &  Klein,  Selling  & 
Brand,  Burns  &  McMahon,  Welsh,  De  Foe  &  Kahn,  Ander- 
son, Wilcox  &  Lacy,  Frank  Lawhead,  Butzel  &  Butzel,  Wil- 
lis, Griffin,  Seely  &  Streeter,  Glicman,  Lindley  &  Morden, 
E.  A.  Rich. 

AGENCIES:     Bonded  Adjustment  Co.,  Wilber  Mercantile  Agency, 

A.  M.  Schwarz,  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Elizabeth,  N.  J. 
ATTORNEYS:     Frank  A.  English,  W.  W.  Bender,  D.  P.  Lum. 

Erie,  Pa. 
ATTORNEYS:     Shreve  &  Shreve,  Marsh  &  Eaton,  Kitts,  Duff  & 
Cornell.  W.  J.  Young,  William  E.  Hirt,  A.  W.  Mitchell,  H.  A. 
Strong,  C.  T.  Bryan,   Robert  J.  Firman,  Gunnison,  Fish,  Gif- 
ford  &  Chapin. 

Evansville,  Ind. 

ATTORNEYS:     Edmund  L.  Craig,  Paul  H.  Schmidt,  Walker  & 

Walker,  William  P.  Miedreich,  Charles  F.  Werner. 
AGENCIES:     There    are    several,    but    controlled    by    attorneys 

named  above. 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 
ATTORNEYS:     Heaton    &    Heaton,   Vesey   &    Vesey,   Somers   & 

Kennerk.  Charles  M.  Niezer,  Breen  &   Morris,  Barrett,  Morris 

&  Huffman,  W.  H.  Shambaugh,  Fred  Shoaff. 
AGENCIES:     Merchants'  Credit  and  Collection  Agency,  National 

Adjustment  Co. 

Fort  Worth,  Tes. 
ATTORNEYS:     Dedmon,    Potter   &    Pinney,   Isaacs,   Agerton   & 

Isaacs,  McGown  &  McGown,  Simon  &  Smith,  Wray  &  Mayer. 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

ATTORNEYS:  Clapperton,  Owen  &  Hatten,  Boltwood  &  Bolt- 
wood,  Hilding  &  Hilding,  Rolland  J.  Cleland,  Eastman  & 
Eastman,  Hatch,  McAllister  &  Raymond,  Corwin  &  Norcross. 

AGENCIES:     Snow-Church  Co.   (Boltwood  &    Boltwood). 

Harrisburg,  Pa. 

ATTORNEYS:  Job  J.  Conklin,  George  L.  Reed,  Harry  Bretz, 
Robert  Rosenberg,  ickersham  &  Metzgar,  Arthur  H.  Hull. 

Hartford,  Conn. 
ATTORNEYS:     John  J.  Dwyer,  A.  C.  Bill.  Terry  J.  Chapin,  Jas. 

B.  Henry,   Lawrence  A.   Howard,   Henry   H.   Hunt,  Joseph   I. 
Kopelman. 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 
ATTORNEYS:    Henley.  Bamberger,  Feibleman   &   Joseph;    Bam- 
berger,   Simon    &    Davis;    Pickens,    Cox    &    Conder:    Albert 
Asche,   Orbinson   &   Olive,   Roemler  &    Chamberlin,  Gavin   & 
Gavin,  Holtzman  &  Coleman. 

Jersey  City,  N.  J. 
ATTORNEYS:     Ilartshorne,   Insley    &    Leake.    Frank   J   Higgins, 
Vrcdenburg,  Wall   &   Carey,   Heyman   &    Heyman,  Young   & 


436  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Margolies,    Arthur    Archibald,    Max    T    Rosenberg,    Sieden    & 
Milberg. 

Kansas  City,  Kan. 
ATTORNEYS:     George   W.   Littick,   McAnany    &    Alden,   Brady 
&  Henning,  Hogin  &  Hubbard,  Carson  &  Carson,  Emerson  & 
Smith. 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

ATTORNEYS:  Edwards,  Kramer  &  Edwards;  Piatt  &  Marks, 
Ellis  &  Yale,  Williams,  Griffin  &  Field;  Carl  H.  Langknecht, 
New,  Miller.  Camack  &  Winger;  Krauthoff,  McClintock  & 
Quant;  Burke  &  Kimpton,  Capron,  Butcher  &  Knoop;  La- 
throp,  Morrow,  Fox  &  Moore;  Ellis,  Cook  &  Barnett. 

AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Louisville,  Ky. 

ATTORNEYS:  James  R.  Duffin,  Burnett,  Batson  &  Gary;  Walsh 
&  Godfrey,  Gifford  &  Steinfeld,  W.  W.  Watts;  M.  A.,  D.  A.  & 
J.  G.  Sachs;  Rueben  Ruthenberger,  Thum  &  Roy,  Charles 
Fitzgerald,  Harrison  &  Harrison. 

AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Little  Rock,  Ark. 

ATTORNEYS:  Hinton,  Rogers  &  Barber,  Richard  M.  Mann, 
Poe,  Poe  &  Elms,  John  F.  CHflford,  Green,  Kelly  &  Gurley. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

ATTORNEYS:  Bicksler,  Smith  &  Parker,  W.  T.  Craig,  Coyne 
&  Coyne,  Adams,  Adams  &  Binford,  E.  T.  Sherer,  R.  B. 
Turnbull,  Bowen  &  Bailie,  Sanson  &  Morris,  Mulford  & 
Dryer,  John  A.  Wallis. 

AGENCIES:  Los  Angeles  Wholesalers'  Board  of  Trade,  CaHfor- 
nia  Mercantile  and  Bond  Co.,  W.  H.  Holmes  &  Co.,  National 
Protective  Agency,  H.  G.  Bittleston  Law  and  Collection 
Agency. 

Lowell,  Mass. 

ATTORNEYS:  Eugene  W.  Hunt,  John  A.  Crowley,  Edw.  J. 
Fisher,  Warren  W.  Fox,  H.  G.  Hill,  J.  J.  Kerwin,  D.  J.  Mur- 
phy. T.  F.  Owens,  J.  E.  O'Donnell,  Qua,  Howard  &  Rogers, 
T.'G.Robbins,  R.  B.  Walsh. 

Lynn,  Mass. 

ATTORNEYS: Charles   W.    Lovett,    Wadleigh    &    Shaw,    Peter   A. 

Breen,  L.  B.  Colbert. 
(Note. — The  shoe  business  of  this  city  is  largely  controlled  by  the 

Shoe   and   Leather   Mercantile   Agency,    Boston;    Wilber,   and 

other  Boston  agencies). 

Manchester,  N.  H. 
ATTORNEYS:     Frank  C.   Livingston,  Jones,   Warren,   Wilson    & 

Manning,    P.    H.    Sullivan,    James    A.    Broderick,    Osgood    & 

Osgood. 

Memphis,  Tenn. 
ATTORNEYS:     Burkhardt,  Dean  &  Haun.  L.  T.  Fitzhugh,  Bank 

8c   Harrelson,  McDonald  &  McDonald,  W.  P.  Biggs.  Anderson 

8c  Crab  tree. 


AND    HIS    WORK  437 

Minneapolis,  Minn. 

ATTORNEYS:     Allen  &    Fletcher,   Henderson,  Wunderlich,  Bran- 
debury   &   Stiles,   Henry   Deutsch,  H.  G.  Amick,  Joss   &    Oh- 
man,  Todd  &  Nye,  Dodge  &  Webber,  Fifield  &   Finney,  Mor- 
ris  &    McLaughlin 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 

ATTORNEYS:  Bloodgood,  Kemper  &  Bloodgood;  Bottum,  Bot- 
tum,  Hudnall  &  Lecher;  Alexander  &  Burke  (American  Ad- 
justment Co.),  S.  Fred  Wetzler,  Nathan  W.  Klein  (Klein  Ad- 
justment Co.),  Fish,  Marshutz  &  Hoffman;  Charles  Friend, 
N.  M.  Stein,  L.  B.  Lanfrom,  Aarons  &  Niven,  Robinson  & 
Salzstein. 

AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

ATTORNEYS:  Manier  &  Crouch,  L.  R.  Campbell,  W.  B.  Marr, 
S.  Andrews,  Stokes  &  Stokes,  Louis  Leftwich,  George  M. 
Thomas,  Thomas  G.  Watkins. 

AGENCIES:  Snow,  Church  &  Co.,  Mercantile  Collection  Co., 
W.  E.  Jackson  &  Co.,  James-Sanford  Agency,  Grocers  and 
Merchants'  Bureau. 

Newark,  N.  J. 

ATTORNEYS:  Furst  &  Furst,  J.  Tracy  Horton,  Stallman, 
Hoover  &  Peck,  Bilder  &  Bilder,  Payne  &  McCall,  William 
Harris. 

AGENCY:     George  S.  Kaighn. 

New  Bedford,  Mass. 

ATTORNEYS:  J.  A.  Briggs,  Cook,  Brownell  &  Taber,  Perry, 
Fennv  &  Potter,  Homer  A.  Hervey,  Samuel  Barnet,  Mayhew 
W.  Hitch,  H.  E.  Woodward,  Otis  &  Leary,  Frank  Vera,  Jr., 
Edward  E.  Clarke,  Asa  Auger. 

New  Britain,  Conn. 
ATTORNEYS:     Morris  D.  Saxe.  Kirkham  &  Cooper. 

New  Orleans,  La. 
ATTORNEYS:     Dart,    Kernan    &    Dart,   Claude   L.   Johnson,   Sol 
Weiss,    Laurence    M.    Janin,    Ernest   T.    Florance,    E.   J.    Thil- 
borger,  Joseph  H.  Brewer,  Hall,  Monroe  &  Lemann. 
AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Norfolk,  Va. 
ATTORNEYS:     Agelasto   &    Miller,   Wolcote   &    Langford.   Baird 
&  Swink. 

Omahia,  Neb. 
ATTORNEYS:     McGilton,    Gaines    &    vSmith ;    Ferdenburg.    Van 
Ursdel  &  Matthews;  Montgomery,  Hall  &  Young;  Baldrige  & 
Keller,    Pratt    &    Wellman;      Crane,      Boucher   &    Sternberg; 
Gerald  M.  Drew. 

AGENCIES:  Russell  Adjustment  Co.,  Acme  Adjustment  Co., 
American  Adjusting  Co.,  Business  Men's  Adjustment  Co.,  C. 
&  C,  Bonded  Collection  Co.,  National  Adjustment  Co.,  Phoe- 
nix Mercantile  Bureau,  Tri-City  Mercantile  Agency,  Charles  E. 
Walters  &  Co..  Credit  Clearing  House. 


438  THE    COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

Passaic,  N.  J. 
ATTORNEYS:     Ranzenhofer     &     Ranzenhofer,     Weinberger     & 
Weinberger. 

Paterson,  N.  J. 

ATTORNEYS:  Horton  &  Tilt,  Freeman  &  WesterhofJ,  Wayne 
Dumont. 

(Note. — This  city  is  a  one-industry  city — silk  manufacturing.    This 
business  is  controlled  in  New  York. 
Peoria,  III. 

ATTORNEYS:  Covey,  Campbell  &  Covey,  Kirk  &  Shurtleff, 
Jack,  Irwin  &  Jack,  Mansfield  &  Cowan,  McRoberts  &  Mor- 
gan. 

Portland,  Ore. 

ATTORNEYS:     Beach,  Simon   &   Nelson,   Bauer,  Greene   &   Mc- 
Kercher,    Hamilton   Johnstone,    George    Alexander,   Christofer- 
son  &  Matthews,  Gus  C.  Moser,  H.  S.  McCutcheon,  Ralph  A. 
Coan,  R.  L.  Sabin,  Hurburt  &   Layton,  Laidlaw  &  Owen. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

ATTORNEYS:  Carr  &  Steinmetz,  Reber  &  Bertram,  D.  Rearick, 
Harry  S.  Mesirov,  Morris  &  Kirby,  Granger,  Levi  &  Mandel; 
Wessel,  Byron,  Longbottom  &  Pape;  Conard,  Middleton  & 
Orr;  L.  Bennett,  Alfred  Aarons,  Jos.  Sternberger,  Fox  & 
Rothschild,  Illoway  &  Felix,  Wm.  S.  Funst,  Samuel  W.  Cooper. 

AGENCIES:  Shriver  Barlett  Co.,  Snow  Church  Co.,  The  Mundorf 
Corporation,  Edmund  S.  Mills;  Kent  Corporation,  Shoe  and 
Leather  Mercantile  Agency,  Lyon  Furniture  Mercantile  Agen- 
cy, Creditors'  Protective  Association,  Masters  &  Webber, 
Credit  Clearing  House. 

Pittsburgh,  Pia. 

ATTORNEYS:  Morris,  Walker  &  Boyle;  Stonecipher  &  Rals- 
ton, Abraham  Seder,  Gearing  &  Riggs,  Pettes,  Tyrrell  & 
Bracken;   Kaufman  &  Roe. 

AGENCIES:  Tebbetts,  Inc.;  Pittsburgh  Commercial  Exchange, 
Union  Adjustment  Co.,  Federal  Adjustment  Co.,  United  Mer- 
cantile Co.,  Kemble  &  Mills,  Snow,  Church  &  Co.;  Darragh 
Co.,  Credit  Adjustment  Co.,  Sarver  &  Ames,  Credit  Clearing 
House. 

Portland,  Me. 

ATTORNEYS:     Harry    L.    Cram,    George    F.    Gould,    George    F. 
Noyes,  C.  F.  Robinson,  M.  E.  Rosen. 
Richmond,  Va. 

ATTORNEYS:  Jo  Lane  &  Cary  Ellis  Stern,  Price  &  Louthan, 
S.  S.  P.  Patteson,  Rawley  &  Rawley,  H.  W.  Goodwyn,  Ra- 
leigh Phillips. 

AGENCY:     Bureau  of  Collections. 

Rochester,  N.  T. 

ATTORNEYS:  Adler  &  Adler,  Plumb  &  Plumb,  Burns  & 
Burns,  Harrv  Otis  Poole,  Eugene  M.  Strouse,  Samuel  Marine. 
Edward  L.  Cleary,  Averill  &  Tompkins,  Wile,  Oviatt  &  Gil- 
man. 

AGENCIES:  Snow-Church  Co.,  Snow  Mercantile  Agency.  Seller 
Mercantile    Agency,    William    C.    Rugg    Co.,     Credit     Clearing 

House. 


AND    HIS    WORK  439 

Sacramento,  Cal. 

ATTORNEYS:     Johnson  &  Lemmon,  White,  Miller,  Needham  & 
Harber,   J.   T.   Pullen,   Hatfield   &    Hatfield,  Gebhart   &    Mc- 
Allister, Meredith,  Landis  &   Chester. 
St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

ATTORNEYS:  Spencer  &  Landis,  George  E.  Groves,  W.  N. 
Linn,  J.  B.  Shackleford,  Warren  Rogers,  Horace  Merritt. 

AGENCIES:     Snow-Church    Collection    Co.    (Spencer    &    Landis, 
attorneys).  Mercantile  Law  Co.,  Reese  Adjustment  Co. 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

ATTORNEYS:  Abbott  &  Edwards,  Grant  &  Grant,  H.  A.  & 
H.  S.  Gleick,  Fagin  &  Kane,  Sanders  &  Forgey, '  Wilson  & 
Trueblood,  Gatewood  &   Lee. 

AGENCIES:  The  Credit  Clearing  House,  Sipple  Adjustment 
Co.,  Adjustment  Bureau  of  St.  Louis,  Creditmen's  Association, 
Snow-Church  Adjustment  Co. 

St.  Paul,  Minn. 

ATTORNEYS:     Morphy,    Bradford   &    Cummins;    Orr,   Stark    & 
Kidder;  O'Brien  &  Epp,  Henderson  &  Miller,  Sylvan  E.  Hess. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

ATTORNEYS:  Booth,  Lee,  Badger  &  Rich;  Skeen  &  Skeen 
Stewart,  Stewart  &  Alexander. 

AGENCIES:    Merchants*    Protective    Association      (this    concern 
makes  a  specialty  of  "bad  debts"). 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 

ATTORNEYS:  Henry  G.  W.  Dinkelspiel,  Willard  P.  Smith,  Ja- 
cobs  &  Oliver,  Rothschild,  Golden  &  Rothschild,  Lloyd  S. 
Ackerman,  Robert  S.  Norman,  Monte  A.  Dernham,  NowHn, 
Fassett  &  Little,  Herrington  &  Clausen,  Dunn,  White  & 
Aiken,  Asher,  Meyerstein  &  McNutt,  Samuel  T.  Bush,  R.  N. 
McConnell,  Leopold  Oppenheimer,  Henry  A    Jacobs 

AGENCIES:  Credit  Clearing  House. 

Savannah,  6a. 

ATTORNEYS:     O'Byrne,    Hartridge    &    Wright,    Hitch    &    Den- 
mark,  W.  W.  Gordon,  Jr.,  G.  W.  Owens,  Edwards  &   Lester 
Gerard  M.  Cohen,  H.  P.  Cobb,  M.  H.  Bernstein. 
Scranton,  Pa. 

ATTORNEYS:  Aaron  V.  Bower,  Welles  &  Torrey,  Wm.  H.  Jes- 
sup,  Lee  P.  Stark,  Beers  &  Grambs,  Houck  &  Benjamin,  Wil- 
cox &  Wilcox,  Watson,  Diehl  &  Watson;  James  J.  O'Malley 
E.  A.  Adair,  H.  C.  Hubler,  H.  D.  Carey,  E.  A.  Delaney  Harry 
Needle,  Donnelly  &  Sanderson,  J.  M.  Walker. 
Seattle,  Wash. 

ATTORNEYS:     McClure    &    McClure.    Cassius    E.    Gates,    L     M 
Stern.  Crowder  &  Crowder,  Grinstead  &  Laube. 

AGENCIES:     Credit    Service    Corporation,    Merchants'    Collection 
Agency,  U.  S.  Adjustment  Co. 

Sioux  City,  Iowa. 
ATTORNEYS:     Munger  &  Maennel,  Carter.  Brackney  &  Carter 
Schmidt  &  Pike,  Sears,  Snyder  &  Boughn,  Milchrist   Scott  &' 
Pitkin. 


440  THE    COMMERCIAL    LAWYER 

AGENCIES:  American  Adjustment  Agency,  Inter-State  Adjust- 
ment Co.,  Tri-State  Adjustment  Co. 

South  Bend,  Ind. 

ATTORNEYS:  Thad  M.  Talcott,  Jr.,  D.  M.  Shively,  Rich  & 
Pyle,  Seibert  &  Shurtz,  Hibbard  &  Martin,  Frank  Gilmer. 

Spokane,  Wash. 

ATTORNEYS:  Belden  &  Belden,  Tolman  &  King,  Mark  F. 
Mendenhall,  Herbert  Kimball,  Harry  L.  Cohn,  Merrit,  Lantry 
&  Merritt,  Danson,  Williams  &  Danson,  Post,  Avery,  Russell 
&  Higgins,  Smith  &  Mack,,  Hamblen  &  Gilbert. 

Springfield,  111. 

ATTORNEYS:  Robert  Matheny,  Conklin  &  Irwin,  George  B. 
Gillespie,  Warren  Lewis,  James  R.  Orr,  George  E.  Ayres. 

AGENCIES:  William  B.  Chittenden,  Susan  Minnemeyer,  Na- 
tional Mercantile  Agency,  Springfield  Collection  Agency, 
Francis  Collection  Agency. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

ATTORNEYS:  Edgar  F.  Brown,  Lee  &  Brewster,  Tracy,  Chap- 
man &  Tracy,  Benj.  Stolz,  Godelle,  Harding,  Young,  Farmer 
&  Daley,  Wilson,,  Cobb  &  Ryan,  Costello,  Burden,  Cooney  & 
Walters  Northrup,  Tooke,  Lynch   &   Carlson,  George  C.  Cole. 

AGENCIES:     Several  controlled  by  attorneys  named. 

Tacoma,  Wash. 

ATTORNEYS:  M.  McElroy,  A.  P.  Marx,  H.  Conyer,  Charles 
Lyons,  H.  P.  Jones,  W.  W.  Keys,  J.  L.  Snapp,  T.  J.  Wayne, 
H.E.Washburn. 

Terre  Haute,  Ind. 

ATTORNEYS:  Joseph  P.  Duffy,  A.  L.  Miller,  Miller,  Kelley  & 
Johnson,  Stimson,  Stimson,  Hamill  &   Davis. 

Toledo,  Ohio. 

ATTORNEYS:  Hall,  Flowers  &  Cotter,  Fritsche,  Kruse  &  Win- 
chester, Kirkbride,  McCabe  &  Flory,  R.  S.  Holbrook,  Elmer 
E.  Davis,  Smith,  Beckwith  &  Ohlinger. 

Trenton,  N.  J. 

ATTORNEYS:     WiUis   P.   Bainbridge,   W.   Holt  Apgar,   Long   & 
Conard,   Hutchinson   &   Hutchinson. 

Troy,  N.  y.  ^ 

ATTORNEYS:  Roy  H.  Palmer,  Betts  &  Draper,  TTTomas  H. 
Guy   (Harold  W.  Turner),  F.  C.  Claessens,  John  J.  Kennedy. 

Utica,  N.  Y. 

ATTORNEYS:  Grant  &  Wager,  Southworth  &  Scanlan,  Cole- 
grove  &  Baker,  Abram  G.  Senior,  Kernan  &  Kernan,  Dun- 
more  &   Ferris,  Miller  &  Fincke,  Lee  &  Dowhng. 

AGENCY:     Merchants'   Mercantile   Agency. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

There   is  little  business  forwarded   from   this   city.     Probably 
those  who  handle  the  bulk  of  what  is  sent  are: 


AND    HIS   WORK  441 

ATTORNEYS:     Lucas  P.  Loving,  Brandenburg  &  Brandenburg, 

H.  Winship  Wheatley,  Tucker,  Kenyon  &   Macfarland. 
AGENCIES:     The  Creditmen's  Adjustment  Bureau,  Bonded  Col- 
lection   Agency,    CuUen's    Service,    Federal    Adjustment    Co., 
Mutual   Adjustment  Co.,   National   Adjustment  Agency,    Sim- 
mon's Collection  Agency. 

Waterbxiry,  Conn. 

ATTORNEYS:  O'Neill,  O'Neill  &  O'Neill,  Bronson,  Lewis  & 
Hart,  Carmody,  Monagan  &  Larkin,  Frank  P.  Guilfrile,  Philip 
N.  Bernstein. 

Wichita,  Kan. 

ATTORNEYS:  Vermillion,  Evans,  Carey  &  Lilleston,  E.  L. 
Foulke,  Noftzger  &  Gardner,  Blake,  Ayers  &  McCorkle. 

Wilmington,  Del. 

ATTORNEYS:     C.    L.    "Ward,   Townsend    &    Toykis,    Lenard    E. 

Wales,  Marvel,  Marvel,  Layton  &   Goldsborough,  Edmund  S. 

Hellings. 

Worcester,  Mass. 
ATTORNEYS :     Charles  T.  Tatman,  Harrison  W.  Bowker,  Thayer, 

Smith  &  Gaskill,  Cowee  &   Fletcher,  L.  E.  Feingold,  Taft  & 

Stobbs,    Mirick    &    Blackmer,    Harvey    L.    Woodward,    M.    L. 

Katz,  Sibley,  Sibley  &  Blair. 
AGENCIES:     Commercial    Credit    Co.,     Worcester    Chamber     of 

Commerce,  Mercantile  Clearing  House. 

Youngstown,  Ohio. 

ATTORNEYS:  McKain  &  Ohl,  W.  W.  Zimmerman,  L.  J.  Shul- 
man,  John  B.  Morgan,  Dornan  &  Huffman. 

THE   LEADING   FORWARDING   LAW   FIRMS    AND    AGEN- 
CIES OF  NEW  YORK. 

Commercial  Collection  and  Adjustment  Co.,  1123  Broadway. 
Credit  Association  ^Building  Trades  of  New  York,  120  Broadway. 
Drug,    Chemical    and    AUied    Trades    Protective    Association,    110 

Nassau. 
Federal  Mercantile  Agency,  27  Cedar  St. 
Colonial  Adjustment  Co.,  41  Park  Row. 
Credit  Ins.  Adjustment  Co.,  55  John  St. 
Dolan  Adjustment  Co.,  127  Duant  St. 
Stone  Adjustment  Bureau,  55  John  St. 
Nathaniel  Walkof,  366  Broadway. 
Wholesalers'  Adjustment  Co.,  299  Brodaway. 
Eastern  Millinery  Association,  200  Fifth  Ave. 
W.  L.  Finn  &  Co.,  220  Broadway. 
Associated  Merchants  of  New  York,  346  Broadway. 
F.  W.  Baldwin  &  Co..  253  Broadway. 
Brouse  &  Hess,  261  Broadway. 
Bush  &  Sergeant,  Inc.,  29  Broadway. 
Max  Cederbaum,  Woolworth  Building. 
Montague  D.  Cohen  &  Co.,  171  Madison  Ave. 
Creditors'  Audit  Collection  Bureau,  41   Union  Squarf 
Haberman  &  Co.,  320  Broadwajr 


442  THE   COMMERCIAL   LAWYER 

McKillop.  Walker  &  So.,  302  Broadway. 

John  A.  Morison,  41  Park  Row. 

National  Clearing  House  of  New  York,  302  Broadway. 

F.  T.  Rand  &  Co.,  320  Broadway. 

Ryan  &  Wood,  277  Broadway. 

Sarver  &  Ames,  299  Broadway. 

Harry  J.  Schultz,  299  Broadway. 

Herman  Steinberg,  45  Cedar  St. 

Sutphin  &  Kinney,  2  Rector  St. 

Despatchers'  Collection  Agency,  320  Broadway. 

Frank  &  Arnold,  320  Broadway. 

Confectioners'  Mercantile  Agency,  309  Broadway. 

Credit  Association,  309  Broadway. 

Credit  Clearing  House  of  New  York,  440  Fourth  Ave. 

R.  G.  Dun,  &  Co.,  290  Broadway. 

Lumbermen's  Credit  Association,  80  Maiden  Lane. 

Lyon  Furniture  Mercantile  Agency,  160  Broadway. 

Martindale  Mercantile  Agency,  227  Broadway. 

Merchants'  Credit  Guide  Co.,  21  Park  Row. 

Oil  Trades'  Credit  Bureau,  299  Broadway. 

Red  Book  Furniture  Agency,  280  Broadway. 

Shoe  and  Leather  Mercantile  Agency,  127  Duane  St. 

Stationers  and  Publishers'  Board  of  Trade,  Inc.,  97  Broadway. 

Trochman  Clearing  Credit  Co.,  220  Fifth  Ave. 

Typo  Mercantile  Agency,  160  Broadway. 

Wilber  Mercantile  Agency,  299  Broadway. 

L.  C.  Mott  &  Co.,  320  Broadway. 

National  Association  of  Clothiers,  13  Astor  Place. 

Material  Men's  Mercantile  Association,  41  Park  Row. 

Loraine  Collection  Agency,  309  Broadway. 

Leaf  Tobacco  Board  of  Trade,  141  Maiden  Lane. 

Kemble  &  Mills,  381  Fourth  Ave. 

Hope  &  Lambden,  38  Park  Row. 

Collection  Alliance,  656  Broadway. 

Merchants'  Credit  Adjustment  Co.,  366  Broadway. 

Merchants'  Credit  Protective  Association,  346  Broadway. 

Merchants'  Protective  Association,  346  Broadway. 

American  Clothing  Manufacturers'  Association,  742  Broadway. 

Wholesale  Grocers  and  Bakers'  Association,  1451  Broadway. 

Credit  Men's  Collection  Bureau,  1733  Broadway. 

Cloak,  Suit  and  Skirt  Manufacturers'  Association,  220  Fifth  Ave. 

Charles  B.  Hobbs,  60  Broadway. 

George  F.  Kaiser,  attorney,  52  Broadway. 

Bowman  &  Shea,  416  Broadway. 

Crockery  Board  of  Trade.  126  Fifth  Ave. 

Lace  and  Embroidery  Association,  949  Broadway. 

W.  B.  Stevens,  200  Fifth  Ave. 

Fur  Men's  Association,  220  Fifth  Ave. 

Nat.  Ottensoser,  235  Fifth  Ave. 

Harold  R.  Lhowe,  320  Broadway. 

Woods'  Dry  Goods  Commercial  Agency,  320  Broadway. 

Commercial  Adjustment  Co.,  346  Broadway. 

E.  R.  Danforth,  346  Broadway. 

Mark  E.  Goldberg,  attorney,  350  Broadway. 

Goldstein  &  Goldstein,  attorneys,  366  Broadway. 


AND    HIS    WORK  443 

Hardware  Board  of  Trade,  291  Broadway. 
Adolph  M.  Schwartz,  attorney,  299  Broadway 
Lesser  Bros.,  attorneys,  299  Broadway. 

D   b  S  ^-  ^-  ^^^y-  attorneys,  309  Broadway. 

B.  F.  Nathan,  309  Broadway. 

Weil  &  Purvin,  309  Broadway. 

Hastings  &  Gleason,  258  Broadway. 

Yankauer  &  Davidson,  attorneys,  261  Broadway 

Israel  &  Schurman,  51  Chamber  St. 

Neufeld  &  Leiman,  attorneys,  291  Broadway 

Max  Rosenfeld,  attorney,  291  Broadway 

P.  M.  Leonard,  291  Broadway. 

Kaye  Adjustment  Co.,  38  Park  Row 

Guy  W.  Rollo,  154  Nassau  St 

Marks  &  Marks,  63  Park  Row. 

Samuel  Kahan,  attorney,  63  Park  Row. 

Clarence  McMillan,  attorney,  233  Broadway 

Iron  and  Steel  Board  of  Trade,  233  Broadway 

Denman  &  Dixon,  attorneys,  170  Broadway 

Weissberger  &  Leichter,  attorneys,  99  Nassau  St 

VVilham  Folson  &  Strauss,  attorneys,  55  John  St 

Emanuel  Goodman,  attorney,  132  Nassau  St 
Lehmaier  &   Pellett,  attorneys,  132  Nassau  St 
John  H.  Porter,  attorney,  140  Nassau  St. 
Amencan  Cred.  Indemnity,  91  West  St 
Julius  Fischer,  attorney,  35  Nassau  St ' 
Herman  Goldman,  attorney,  120  Broadway 
Franz  Neilson,  attorney,  120  Broadway 
Blau,  Zalkin  &  Cohn,  170  Broadway 
Raymnood  Hull  Noble,  attorney,  55  Liberty  St 
Boyd  &  Boyd,  45,  East  Seventeenth  St 
Loew  &  Galloway,  attorneys,  299  Broadway 
Murphy  &  Fultz,  attorneys,  37  Wall  St 

^'^*B?oIdway°'''^'^    ^"™^^'   °^^^^'''   ^'^^^''^'''^   Association,    06 
Adjustment  Corporation,  Woolworth  Building 
Bradstreet  Collection  Bureau,  111   Broadway  ' 
Wholesale  Men's  Furnishings  Association,  200  Fifth  Ave 
John  B.  Wentworth,  33  Union  Square 

ir"'°u  u°ll^^^'?"  ^"^  Reporting  Association,  341  Fifth  Ave 

Marshall  N.  Thayer,  310  Broadway 

Sutphm  &   Kinney,  2  Rector  St. 

North  American  Mercantile  Agency,  140  Nassau  St. 

F.  G.  Coates,  132  Nassau  St. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 

FOR 

THE  COMMERCIAL  LAWYER  AND  HIS  WORK 


A  Pages 

Acquaintances  91,  95 

Adjustment  Bureaus  of  National  Association  of  Credit  Men__  419 

Adjustment  System  279 

Advance   Costs   256 

Advertising 103,  109,  110,  111,  112, 

113,   117,   118,   119,   120,   121,   124,   125,    126,    127,   129,  377 

In    Law    Lists 138 

Agencies,   Connection   with   102 

Conducted    by    Lawyers 114 

Paying  Lawyers  Salary   115 

Giving   Retainer   to   Lawyers 131 

Practicing    Law 131 

Use  of  Lawyer's  Name  134 

Recommending   Lawyers   136 

And  the  Lawyer  163 

Reporting  Agency  and  Lawyer 175 

Brief  on  Relations  of  Lawyer  and  Agency 178 

And  Lawyer  and  Law  List 188 

B 

Bankruptcy    112 

Lawyers   Soliciting   Claims    118 

Division    of    Fees 122 

Letters   to   Creditors   126 

Agreement   between   Attorneys 130 

Bonding    121 

C 

Clientage,    direct    59 

Collection  Agency,  Definition  of 4 

Collections,  When  Commercial  Law  "Business" 3 

Meaning    of    4 

And   Layman    4 

Making  Them   Profitable   266 

Commercial  Law  as  a  Profitable   Field 18 

Character  and  Scope  of 9 

Dignity   of   Practice   of 27 

Commercial  Law  League  of  America 402 

Constitution    and    By-Laws 408 


Pages 

Legislation  on  House  Agencies 416 

Officers     427 

Commercial  Lawyer,  Definition  of 3 

Character  and  Scope  of  Work 9 

Preparation   of   34 

Location  and  Environment 43 

Conducting   Agency    114 

Paid  Salary  by  Agency 115 

Acting  for  Association 115,  128 

Paying   to    Law    Lists 120 

Bonding    121 

Other  Business  130 

Retainer  from   Agencies 131 

Employing  Agencies  to  Solicit 377 

Corporations,  Exploiting  Lawyers'  Services 135 

Correspondence  98,  287 

Costs  256 

Courtesy    82 

Credit  Clearing  House  Offices 427 

Customs    240 

D 

Drafts  System,  Improper  Use  of  Lawyer's  Name 132,  190,  273 

Dun,  R.  G.  &  Co.  Offices 421 

E 

Earnestness    73 

Economy    283 

Efficiency    283 

Employees    283 

Equipment  283 

Ethics     59 

Code  of  59 

Opinions  of  New  York  County  Lawyers  Association 109 

Ethical  Ways  that  Win 59 

"Expenses" 248,  256,  260 

P 
Fees,  Minimum  8_  243 

Division  of, 112,  114,  122,  123,  127,  131,  251,  254,  261 

In  General  202 

Bar  Rates 230 

Commercial   Law   League    Rules 238 

Contingent    240 

Suit    Fees   241 


Pages 

When  Client  Interferes 244 

Paid   Direct   Items 245 

When   Matter   Withdrawn 246 

When  Property  is  Recovered 247,  248 

On  Installments 247 

Expenses  248 

Improper  Use  of  Name 248 

When  Claim  not  acknowledged 249 

Stipulations  in  Forwarding  Letter 250 

When  Change  of  Attorney 251 

Forwarder    Liable    for 253 

Claim  Paid  to  Prior  Receiver 255 

Definition    256 

Application  of  League  Schedule 258 

Course  When  Fee  Offered  Inadequate 259 

Division  of  Fee  Assumed  to  be  Whole  Fee 261 

New  York  Decision  on  Splitting  Fees 382 

Forwarder,   Definition   of  6 

Going  Behind  the  260 

Forwarders,  Leading  in  U.  S 431 

H 

House  Agency,  Definition   of 7 

Division  of  Fee  With 254 

League   Legislation   416 

House  Attorney,  Definition  of 7 

I 

Interest,  Accounting  for 259 

L 

Law   Lists,   Definition   of  5 

Business   of   6 

High  Class  Connection  102 

Attorneys  Paying  Money  to 120 

And  the  Lawyer 138 

Complaints   Against  162 

And   Lawyer  and  Agency 188 

Roughly   Classified   428 

Layman  and  the  Practice  of  the  Law 360 

Legislation    360 

On   Unlawful  Practice  by  Laymen 372 

In  New  York  and  Massachusetts  on  Practice  of  Law  by 

Corporations    385 

New  Jersey  Law  as  to  Collection  Agencies 388 

Illinois   Law   Prohibiting  Corporations   from    Practicing 

Law     389 


P  Pages 

Parliamentary   Law   g. 

Partnership  Name  Continued 123 

Personality  jQg 

Practice  of  the  Law,  What  Constitutes 364 

R 

Receiver,   Definition  of g 

Reforms,    Needed    353 

How  They  Will  Come 357 

Remitting   99^  268 

Reporting    I75 

Retainer 111_  256 

Rules    240 

S 
Society     85 

Solicitation   (See  Advertising). 

Stationery     gg 

Suggestions    320 

System   95^  283 

T 
Title   Companies  Practicing  Law 374 

Trade   Agencies    424 

U 
Unfair  Forwarding  and  Receiving 392 

Leagvie  Legislation  on 398 

Unlawful  Effort  to  Practice  Law 132   360 

Unwritten    Laws    _  240 

W 

Ways  That  Win,  Earnestness 73 

Promptness    7^ 

Courtesy    _  _  09 

Society  _  g- 

Acquaintance  _          9^  jg^ 

Parliamentary    Law    '  go 

System     _  q_ 

Stationery    q« 

Letters  qn 

Remitting  gg 

Small  Matters """  ,ac 

List  Connections   ,,>„ 

Cards    --"™"""""  103 

Advertising    ^^^ 

Personality    _  jQfi 

Ways  That  Do  Not  Win ".'..            """'"'""  107 


,^\?^  CALIFORNIA 


c>o 


AA    000  851  494    5 


